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

  • June 12, 2015
    2015 UITP Global Public Transport Awards announced
    The winners of the 2015 Global Public Transport Awards were announced yesterday evening at the 61st UITP World Congress & Exhibition in Milan, Italy. The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) Awards acknowledge ambitious and innovative mobility projects that contribute towards meeting the sector goal of doubling the market share of public transport by 2025.
  • October 24, 2014
    Lima to invest in subway lines
    Peru will invest nearly US$10 billion in the construction of Lima metro lines No. 3 and 4, private investment promotion agency ProInversión forecast at BNamericas 5th South America Infrastructure Summit. ProInversión recently awarded a pre-investment studies contract for line No. 3 and in coming the months will launch pre-investment and feasibility studies for line No. 4. "These are projects that, given similar characteristics to line No. 2 – more than 30 kilometres long and all built underground – s
  • December 16, 2014
    Growing passenger numbers, fare rises for UK rail
    According to Rail Travel, a new market report from business intelligence provider Key Note, in 2013/2014 the total value of passenger receipts for UK rail travel increased by 6.2 per cent year-on-year, and grew by 32.5 per cent over a five-year period. In addition, passenger journeys grew by 23.5 per cent over the five-year review period, with passenger kilometres travelled also growing by 17.9 per cent over the same timeframe. For the purpose of this report, the rail industry in the UK has been split in
  • October 1, 2019
    China’s Changzhou metro takes Bombardier train control tech
    Bombardier Transportation has provided propulsion and signalling systems for trains running on China’s Changzhou Metro Line 1 in a bid to reduce travel time. Bombardier says its Cityflow 650 communications-based control solution enables automatic train operation at speeds of up to 80km/h on the line, which is expected to transport around 950,000 passengers per day. The company’s Chinese joint venture Bombardier NUG Signalling Solutions (BNS) and Bombardier NUG Propulsion System is to provide the technol