King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has ordered the linking of the new Hazm Al-Jalameed-Ras Al-Zour rail with Dammam through Jubail Industrial City, Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said on June 24. The 1,392-km railway line between Hazm Al-Jalameed, Northern Border Province, where phosphate mines are situated, and the industrial centre of Ras Al-Zour, Eastern Province, was opened in May. The railway also passes through the mining areas in the provinces of Jouf, Hail and Qassim. The Saudi Railway Company (SAR) completed the new rail line in May.
SAR also plans to link Riyadh with Haditha, on the border with Jordan, with the construction of another line. “The king’s order for a railway link is of vital importance for the development of the Kingdom’s economy,” said Al-Assaf, who is also chairman of the Public Investment Fund, which owns SAR. The factories in a number of industrial cities in the north and central regions of the country will be linked with eastern industrial ports on the Gulf.