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Project manager confirmed for Riyadh Metro Line 2 extension

21 August 2025

 

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Riyadh Metro Transit Consultants (RMTC), a joint venture of US-based Parsons and French engineering firms Egis and Systra, has been confirmed as the project management and construction supervision consultant for the recently awarded Riyadh Metro Line 2 extension.

RMTC previously served as the project management and construction supervision consultant for lines one, two and three of the Riyadh Metro scheme.

The Line 2 extension is 8.4 kilometres (km) long, of which 1.3km is elevated and 7.1km is underground. It includes five stations – two elevated and three underground.

The extension will run from the current Line 2 terminus at King Saud University (KSU), continuing to new stations at KSU Medical City, KSU West, Diriyah East, Diriyah Central – where it will interchange with the planned Line 7 – and finally Diriyah South.

In July, MEED exclusively reported that Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) had awarded an estimated $800m–$900m contract for the next phase of the Riyadh Metro project.

The contract was awarded to the Arriyadh New Mobility Consortium.

According to the consortium’s official website, its members include Italy’s Webuild, India’s Larsen & Toubro, Saudi firm Nesma & Partners, Japan’s Hitachi, Italy’s Ansaldo STS, Canada’s Bombardier, Spain’s Idom and Australia’s WorleyParsons.

In 2013, the Arriyadh New Mobility Consortium secured the Line 3 contract for $5.21bn.

Line 3, also known as the Orange Line, runs east to west from Jeddah Road to the Second Eastern Ring Road, covering 41km.

Riyadh Metro

Riyadh Metro’s first phase features six lines with 84 stations.

The RCRC completed the phased rollout of the Riyadh Metro network with the launch of the Orange Line on 5 January.

In December last year, the RCRC started operating the Red Line and Green Line.

The Red Line, also known as Line 2, stretches 25.1km from the east of Riyadh to the west, via King Abdullah Road, connecting King Fahd Sports City and King Saud University. It has a total of 15 stations.

The Green Line, also known as Line 5, extends 13.3km from King Abdullah Road to the National Museum. With 12 stations, it serves several ministries and government agencies, including the Defence Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Commerce Ministry, as well as other areas.

In December, the RCRC started operating the Blue Line (Line 1), Yellow Line (Line 4) and Purple Line (Line 6).

The Blue Line connects Olaya Street to Batha; the Yellow Line runs along King Khalid International Airport Road; while the Purple Line connects Abdul Rahman Bin Awf Road with Al-Sheikh Hassan Bin Hussain Road.

King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud inaugurated the Riyadh Metro on 27 November last year.

The network spans 176km. Four of the stations have been designed by signature architects.

The metro is part of the Riyadh Public Transport Project, which encompasses metro and bus systems. The project aims to relieve traffic congestion.

The $23bn project was scheduled to open in 2018, but construction activity slowed due to disputes over prolongation and the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The RCRC awarded the main construction packages for the scheme on 28 July 2013.

In November 2022, the RCRC struck a deal with three contracting consortiums working on the Riyadh Metro scheme regarding the completion of the project’s remaining works.

The Fast consortium won lines 4, 5 and 6, reportedly valued at $7.82bn. The Bacs consortium was awarded lines 1 and 2 for $9.45bn, while Arriyadh New Mobility secured Line 3 for $5.21bn.

US firm Bechtel leads the Bacs consortium. Italian firm Ansaldo STS is the leader of the Arriyadh New Mobility group, and Spanish firm FCC Construccion heads the Fast consortium.

AtkinsRealis has delivered programme management and supervision services for the operations and maintenance of the Riyadh Metro scheme.

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Yasir Iqbal

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