North-South Line (Saudi Arabia)

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North-South Railway
North-South Railway: northwest of Riyadh
North-South Railway: northwest of Riyadh
Route length: 995 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend
BSicon .svgBSicon KBHFa.svgBSicon .svg
Riyadh (SAR)
BSicon .svgBSicon BHF.svgBSicon .svg
King Khalid International Airport (Riyadh Airport)
BSicon .svgBSicon BHF.svgBSicon .svg
Majmaʿa
BSicon .svgBSicon BHF.svgBSicon .svg
Buraida
BSicon WSL + l.svgBSicon STR.svgBSicon .svg
Ras Al Khair port
BSicon ABZgl.svgBSicon STR.svgBSicon .svg
to Dammam
BSicon ABZgl.svgBSicon STR.svgBSicon .svg
Zubariya ( bauxite mining )
BSicon STRl.svgBSicon ABZg + r.svgBSicon .svg
   
BSicon STR + l.svgBSicon ABZgr.svgBSicon .svg
BSicon DST.svgBSicon STR.svgBSicon .svg
Sakaka al-Jauf
BSicon KDSTe.svgBSicon STR.svgBSicon .svg
Hazm al-Jalamid (phosphate degradation )
   
 Bosajata
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BSicon .svgBSicon STR.svgBSicon exKDSTe.svg
Al Baseeta
   
 Qurayyat
   
 Haditha
   
 Saudi Arabia / Jordan border

The North-South Railway ( German: Nord-Süd-Linie ) is a 2,400 kilometer long railway network in Saudi Arabia that connects the north of the country with the Persian Gulf and the capital Riyadh . The predominantly single-track line is designed under demanding climatic conditions both for heavy freight traffic and for passenger traffic with high-speed trains with up to 250 km / h. The north-south line has been used for freight traffic since 2012 and for passenger traffic since 2017.

Geographical location

The north-south line will have three branches in the north and two in the south as soon as it is fully developed. In the north there is a section to Al- Haditha near the border with Jordan , one to Al-Jalamid, where phosphate mining takes place, and one to Al Baseeta. The route forks south of Ha'il : There is a branch to Ra's az-Zawar on the Persian Gulf, where there are processing plants for the phosphate. On this section lies Zubariya , a bauxite mining area. The other southern branch of the route leads via Buraida and Riyadh Airport to Riyadh itself. This section is intended especially for passenger traffic.

construction

Construction of the line began in 2005 and the construction costs are estimated at 5 billion euros . Various companies are involved in the construction of the line, including Saudi Binladin , AlSuwaikat , Mitsui and RŽD . The line was equipped with ETCS and GSM-R by Thales Germany , the order volume for this was 350 million euros. DB International is the second German company to be involved in the construction of the project. The branch to the Persian Gulf has been completed. The construction of the branch to Riyadh began in March 2012 and is completed except for a section in the area of ​​Riyadh, where there were delays due to cross-road construction works (December 2015).

The order to equip the line with ETCS Level 2 , telecommunications, security and fare collection systems was awarded on April 7, 2009 and was at the same time the first order for ETCS Level 2 in the Arab world as well as the order for the longest Level 2 Application worldwide. It had a volume of 340 million euros and was awarded to Thales and Saudi Binladin .

In Riyadh there is initially no connection to the SRO network, the North-South Railway has its own station there ( ). World icon

Infrastructure

The north-south line is not electrified, is largely single-track and runs in a straight line for large parts. Six passenger stations and ten transshipment stations are planned. The route is structurally designed for a maximum speed of 250 km / h. Train crossings can take place at 20 to eight kilometers long passing points . The railway line crosses the Nefud desert over a length of 280 kilometers . To prevent camels from getting on the track, there are fences along the route.

107 prestressed concrete bridges were built, which were composed of 20 meter long sections. The maximum permissible axle load is up to 32.4 t above the values ​​usual in Europe. There are 1,800 concrete sleepers per kilometer, each with a weight of 60 kg per meter.

The train protection is carried out by ETCS Level 2 with GSM-R . Along the route there are 16 electronic interlockings as well as around 2,400 euro balises , 1,200 axle counters , 900 point machines and 100 telecommunication masts for GSM-R. At 44 control points, a train is checked for flat spots , overheated brakes, exceeding the clearance profile and exceeding the maximum permissible axle load. Due to the sometimes extreme environmental conditions, the installation of technical submissions on the track is limited as far as possible in remote areas.

Thanks to ETCS Level 2, the railway line manages completely without stationary signals . Otherwise, signals and more complex signaling electronics would have to be designed for the high temperatures and desert sand; maintenance along the long stretch through sparsely populated areas would also be more difficult. ETCS also enables the arrival times of trains to be calculated in advance at the passing points and influencing their speed with the aim of allowing two oncoming trains to arrive at a passing point at the same time. In this way, the train crossings can take place without having to stop a train. Since the braking and restarting of the freight trains weighing more than 2,000 tons is ideally omitted, energy should be saved.

business

A subsidiary of the Saudi Railway Organization, the Saudi Railway Company (SAR), was founded to tender the operation of the route to external companies under fixed-term contracts. In 2012, SAR signed a contract with the Indian railway company RITES .

Freight transport

For freight transport , SAR purchased 25 diesel locomotives from Electro-Motive Diesel and freight wagons from the People's Republic of China . Greenbrier received the order to supply 1,200 tank wagons for transporting molten sulfur and phosphoric acid . They are manufactured in Poland according to US standards .

The route between the phosphate mining in Hazm al-Jalamid and the port of Ras Al Khair has been in operation for freight traffic since 2011. It is planned to transport over 5 million tons of phosphate and 4 million tons of bauxite per year. The maximum speed of the freight trains is 110 km / h (empty) and 80 km / h (loaded).

passenger traffic

Of the 2400 kilometers of the north-south line, 995 kilometers are designed for passenger traffic. In 2012, six push-pull trains with a maximum speed of 200 km / h were ordered from CAF for high-speed passenger transport at a price of € 133 million. The Desert Hawk locomotives are being supplied by Vossloh and two trains each run in a sandwich formation. In 2014, vehicles for three additional sets were reordered. There are differently equipped trains for day and night traffic. As a rule, a day train should have 444 seats and a night train 377 beds and seats. Day trains should run at a maximum speed of 200 km / h, night trains at 160 km / h.

The passenger coaches will have two classes of coaches . Each class has a family area where women are also allowed to travel. The trains run generator , food and car transport cars . The day trains are to be made up of nine and the night trains of 13 cars. All vehicles are designed so that they can travel at 200 km / h and with outside temperatures between -5 ° C and +55 ° C.

Passenger traffic between Riyadh and Buraida (al-Qassim) began on February 27, 2017.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f North-South Railway Line, Saudi Arabia at railway-technology.com (English), accessed on January 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Corporate communication Thales Germany : With high tech through the desert. In: Thales Network 2/2014 ( Memento of the original from July 31, 2016 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. (PDF), p. 12f. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thalesgroup.com
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g North-South Railway on course to open in July Railway Gazette website , April 26, 2012, accessed on January 1, 2015.
  4. ↑ Saudi bidding hots up . In: Railway Gazette International , March 10, 2008. 
  5. ^ SAR: Media Center - News .
  6. ↑ DB Welt , No. 4, 2010, p. 5.
  7. ↑ HaRakevet 96 (March 2012) - message 96:09 B (iii), p. 13.
  8. ↑ a b c d NN: Trains delivered for North-South Line . In: HaRakevet 2015/111: 09, C: Saudi Arabia (iv), p. 14.
  9. ^ North-South contracts . In: Railway Gazette International . tape 161 , no. 4 , 2005, ISSN  0373-5346 , p. 7 .
  10. ↑ Starting with a blank sheet . In: Railway Gazette International . tape 167 , no. 5 , 2011, ISSN  0373-5346 , p. 74 f .
  11. ↑ HaRakevet No. 97 (2012), p. 14.
  12. ↑ HaRakevet No. 90 (2010), pp. 17-19.
  13. ^ NN: Sulfur Wagons Ordered . In: HaRakevet 2015/111: 09, C: Saudi Arabia (vii), p. 14.
  14. ^ SAR: Mineral Services .
  15. ^ NN: Trains delivered for North-South Line . In: HaRakevet 2015/111: 09, C: Saudi Arabia (iv), p. 14.
  16. ↑ CAF secures contract with Saudi Railways Company (SAR) on davidgordonltd.co.uk (English), March 1, 2012, accessed on January 1, 2015.
  17. ↑ Desert Hawk passenger locomotive mock-up on show. Railway Gazette website , September 24, 2012, accessed January 1, 2015.
  18. ↑ a b Delays to High-Speed ​​Line . In: HaRakevet 115 (December 2016), p. 25.
  19. ^ SAR launches Riyadh-Qassim railway line , Arab News, February 28, 2017