Saudi and South African companies announced on Sunday the launch of a joint venture project in railroad technology Sunday here at a ceremony attended by Dr. Jubarah Bin Eid Al-Suraisy, Minister of Transportation. Al-Khobar-based Central Mining Company Investment Limited (CMCI) and South African Tubular Track Pty Ltd., formed a joint venture company called T-track Saudi that specializes in track technology suited for desert conditions such as for the countries in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world. Saudi Arabia will serve as the center for Middle East operation for T-track technology. Also present in the ceremony were Dr. Said J. Al-Qahtani, managing director, T-Track Saudi, Peter Kusel, T-Track Founder, John Davies, South African Ambassador representatives from private sector from Saudi Arabia and other GCC states and media persons. A detailed presentation was made about the T-Track technology based on a pilot project launched and tested successfully in Harad, in the Eastern Province. Speaking on the occasion, Suraisy, who is also the chairman of Saudi Railway Organization (SRO), said the gathering of representatives from private sector and in the field of railroad technology and choosing of Saudi Arabia as a center for Middle East operation by a Saudi-South African joint venture company T-track Saudi clearly indicated that the Kingdom under the directives by the King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques encourages the policy of technology transfer and attracting foreign investments. “Secondly, the private-public sectors working together in development of innovative technology will go a long in matters of trade and investments in the Kingdom,” he said. Kusel said T-track technology is ballast-less railway system with rail-road continuously supported on twin reinforced concrete beams laid on a specially designed formation that works perfectly well under conditions, where extreme temperatures and loose sand have been a problem. The beams are tied together with galvanized steel tie-bars, the ends of which encircle the beams, and are therefore not cast into the concrete. Further explaining the next generation railway technology he said a one-kilometer long pilot project was successfully launched and tested in Harad, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The system based on correct installation and maintenance procedures was fully engineered, tested and quality assured. He said countries in the Middle East such as Egypt and Jordan have shown their keen interest T-track railway technology, “which we will sell the idea through the local entities (such as our Saudi partner T-track Saudi) to our clients in the Middle East,” he said. “What we are looking for in Saudi Arabia is the Saudi rail authority that's in-charge of future of transportation in the country,” he said referring to Saudi Railway Organization, which recently launched the Landbridge project that will create a new dimension in land transport across the Saudi Arabian Peninsula transforming the existing rail network into a world-class freight and passenger rail system. The Landbridge rail network is expected to link Saudi Arabia's three largest ports - from Jeddah Islamic Port in the west, annually handling 2.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), through Riyadh's Dry port, 0.25 million TEUs, to Dammam's King Abdul Aziz Port, 0.75 million TEUs, in the east. The interconnected railway tracks will allow large quantities of cargo to be transported at competitive rates, resulting in considerable cost savings. South African Ambassador Davies said the volume of two-way trade between Saudi Arabia and South Africa has reached $20 billion and the launch of joint venture project in the field of railway technology has opened a new dimension in the bilateral relations between the two countries.
