Saudi Arabia’s coastal cities Jeddah and Jazan may soon be connected by rail as the Saudi Railways Organization completed the first phase of a feasibility study, according to a report in Arab News.
P.K. Abdul Ghafour reports that businessmen and officials are welcoming the plan for a railway that would run alongside roads connecting the two coastal cities that are critical ports for Saudi trade.
The new Jeddah-Jazan railway would encourage more foreign companies to invest in an industrial city near Jazan, which would benefit from the rail connection and could draw investments and create jobs, according to Arab News.
The current car trip between the two cities is roughly 7 hours.
Although the proposed expansion between the two cities would be part of a larger rail expansion, a guest contributor to the english-language Saudi Gazette criticized Thursday the lack of delivery on promises by SRO chief Mohammed Al-Suwaiket.
The writer, Qenan Al-Ghamdi, lamented that previous statements promising a Saudi rail network connecting Saudi cities were not executed in an op-ed titled “The Endless Promises of the Head of Saudi Railways.”
“We only have a single railway line between Dammam and Riyadh and are still patiently waiting for the Haramain Express Train. According to these promises, it seems that the SRO will take us at lightening speed into the industrial age,” Al-Ghamdi said, adding that promises to have locomotives manufacturing in Saudi Arabia has also fallen flat.
