Skip to main content

Riyadh aims to build world’s biggest public transport system in five years

The City of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is building the world's largest public transit system --- in just five years. It will be presenting the project at the Palais des Congrès, in Montreal, Quebec, during the global summit of the Union Internationale des Transports Publics (UITP), this week. Managed by The High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh (HCDA), the project includes six metro lines covering 176 km and 85 stations, in addition to 24 bus routes covering 1,900 km and 3,000 stations and stops. At a
May 15, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The City of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is building the world's largest public transit system --- in just five years. It will be presenting the project at the Palais des Congrès, in Montreal, Quebec, during the global summit of the Union Internationale des Transports Publics (UITP), this week.


Managed by The High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh (HCDA), the project includes six metro lines covering 176 km and 85 stations, in addition to 24 bus routes covering 1,900 km and 3,000 stations and stops. At a total cost of US$27 billion, it is Saudi Arabia's first public transportation network and the largest infrastructure project worldwide.

Riyadh's population of 6.5 million today is expected to reach 8.3 million by 2030. Its streets currently handle 9 million car trips daily, increasing the need for a public transit network.

For its rolling stock, HCDA commissioned three different global manufacturers: 189 Siemens, 513 Bombardier and 8158 Alstom.  1685 Mercedes Benz and 267 MAN will provide its fleet of buses.

Construction of the project will finish at the end of 2018. Testing of the service will start simultaneously in the last quarter of the same year, with the objective to begin service to the public in the second half of 2019.

Related Content

  • September 5, 2014
    Chile needs major smart city investment
    Chile needs to invest US$30 billion in telecom infrastructure over the next ten years to boost its potential to develop smart cities, according to Pelayo Covarrubias, board president of digital development organisation País Digital. During a seminar on smart cities, Covarrubias said Chile had invested US$15 billion in telecom infrastructure in the last decade. The estimated investment for the next decade is the minimum Chile would need to spend just to be able to keep up with other high-ranking digital citi
  • February 6, 2020
    US braces itself for congestion pain
    Mary Scott Nabers, author of Inside the Infrastructure Revolution: A Roadmap for Building America, looks at how different US states are embracing the need for public transport investment
  • October 27, 2017
    Berg Insight: Fleet Management in Australia and New Zealand expected to grow in years to come
    The number of Fleet Management (FM) systems in active use is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15.7% from almost 0.7 million units in 2016 to 1.4 million by 2021. The findings come from the latest report from Berg Insight: Fleet Management in Australia and New Zealand - 2nd edition, which also estimates that the penetration rate in the total population of non-privately-owned fleet vehicles used by businesses is estimated to increase from 14.8% in 2016 to 27.8% in 2021.
  • June 9, 2020
    Pandemic ‘proves value’ of emerging world’s informal public transport
    Networks of minibuses fill gaps left by reduced 'formal' services