Dammam – Riyadh railway line 2

Damman-Haradh-Riyadh
Route number :	2
Route length:	561 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend King Abdul Aziz Port 0 Damam to. Al Khubar 19th Zahran 42 Ghunan 74 Abqaiq 82 Uyun after Foda 107 Al Mubarraz 118 Al Qarn Al Sha'bah 131 Hoof 139/0 Al Mansurah to route 1 158 Al Uthmaniyah 172 Al Udayliyah 201 Ghar Mihn 282 Harad 447 Ain Wasia 459 Al Yamamah to Al-Khardj 474 Hajj al Mahattat 480 As Salamiya 494 Al bath 506 Dahl hit 538 from route 1 to Riyadh airport 561 Riad

The Dammam – Riyadh 2 railway connects the port city of Dammam on the Persian Gulf with the capital of Saudi Arabia , Riyadh . Today it is operated by the Saudi Railways Organization (SRO).

history

The line was built from 1948 as a railway infrastructure of the Saudi Aramco Petroleum Company (ARAMCO) to transport equipment for their oil production and oil products between the Persian Gulf and the hinterland. The first section from Golf to Hufuf went into operation in October 1949. The entire route to Riyadh was opened on October 20, 1951 by King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud and the then Crown Prince Saud ibn Abd al-Aziz . At that time there was also passenger traffic on the route . Initially, Aramco operated the route itself. In 1980, the Saudi state took over ARAMCO completely. The country's railways and the railway line were thus passed under state sponsorship.

State of development

It is a standard - gauge, single - track, non- electrified line that is operated exclusively with diesel vehicles. Between Dammam and Al Mansurah , the Dammam – Riyadh 1 railway runs parallel to the line for 139 km. But it is a separate infrastructure . Each of the routes is operated as a separate route. UIC 60 type rails are used . The point machines are protected from sand by housings.

The technical equipment and the systems that ensured operational safety were quite simple until 2009. There were neither up-to-date signals nor technical train protection. A consortium made up of Siemens Transportation Systems and the Saudi Arabian Nour Communications Company modernized the route between 2005 and 2009. It was equipped with modern signal systems with block points , video surveillance for important level crossings and the entire route with ETCS Layer 1 . Because of the extreme weather conditions, their balises have special sun protection. In addition, GSM-R was introduced for control and radio communication . The system is controlled by ten Simis signal boxes from Siemens . The control center with four operator positions is located in Dammam.

The line is to be double-tracked and upgraded to 150 km / h. A contract was signed in 2014 with a company that will initially carry out the expansion in the Hufuf-Harad section.

traffic

The route mainly serves the traffic between the capital Riyadh and the port city of Dammam. It is used exclusively for freight traffic . In 2008, 3.5 million tonnes of goods (mainly in containers) were transported. The double-track expansion serves both to reintroduce passenger traffic on the line and to increase the capacity of freight traffic.

literature

• Neil Robinson: World Rail Atlas and historical summary . Volume 8: The Middle East and Caucasus. 2006.
• siem: ETCS in Saudi Arabia . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 2009, p. 422.

Web links

• Website of the Saudi Railway (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Robinson, p. 43.
2. ↑ Robinson, p. 42.
3. ↑ Robinson, p. 42.
4. ↑ Technical information on SRO ( Memento of the original from April 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ siem.
6. ↑ siem.
7. ↑ Siemens AG: Dammam - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  
8. ↑ siem.
9. ↑ HaRakevet 107 (December 2014), p. 14.
10. ↑ Saudi Railways Organization: Statistics ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .