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Saudi Arabia accelerates its rail revolution

4 December 2025

Saudi Arabia stands at a pivotal moment. Its population – around 35 million and rising – is overwhelmingly young and increasingly urban. Major cities like Riyadh – approaching 8 million residents – and Jeddah are experiencing rapid growth in population and activity, increasing demand for efficient mobility solutions. After decades of car-focused development, there now exists an opportunity to introduce new modern multimodal transport solutions in line with the objectives of Vision 2030. 

Rail offers an answer to urban and economic pressures. Each train can remove hundreds of cars from the roads, cutting congestion and commuting times. Rail also aligns with Saudi Arabia’s environmental commitments. 

Efficient mobility is key to Riyadh’s ambition to rank among the world’s top city economies. A reliable metro bolsters productivity as workers spend less time in traffic, boosts retail and tourism, with easier access to malls and attractions, and increases real estate values around stations. It also expands access to opportunity by providing safe and convenient transportation for women and youth entering the workforce. Similarly, intercity rail links can unite labour markets and connect people to jobs and services across the region. 

Rail development is also central to Saudi Arabia’s strategy to become a global logistics and tourism hub. Launched in 2021 as part of Vision 2030, the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS) explicitly prioritises expanding the rail network to connect key cities, ports and economic zones. The kingdom aims to roughly double its rail network, adding more than 5,000 kilometres of new tracks. Saudi Arabia can unlock economic potential in underdeveloped regions, facilitate domestic tourism (e.g. convenient travel to cultural and religious sites) and streamline freight movement. 

An integrated rail system also enhances resilience by providing alternative transport modes to complement roads and aviation, making the overall economy more robust against shocks such as oil price fluctuations or air travel disruptions.

The time is ripe for rail – it addresses urgent urban challenges and propels the kingdom towards its Vision 2030 objectives of sustainability, connectivity and diversified growth

Current and planned projects

Public transportation in Saudi cities is targeted to rise from 1% to 15% by 2030. Major investments are already under way or planned across both passenger and freight rail:

Riyadh Metro: A flagship $22.5bn project, the new six-line Riyadh Metro network (176km, 85 stations) is set to carry more than a million passengers daily and reduce traffic volumes by an estimated 30%.

Haramain High-Speed Railway: Completed in 2018, this 450km electric high-speed line connects the holy cities of Mecca and Medina via Jeddah at speeds up to 300km/h. The Haramain line, with a capacity of 60 million passengers a year, has already transported more than 20 million travelers – dramatically cutting travel times for pilgrims and residents while offering a comfortable, climate-friendly alternative to highway driving. 

Saudi Landbridge Project: The Landbridge is a planned 1,300km railway linking the Red Sea coast to the Arabian Gulf. This new line will connect Jeddah’s port with Riyadh and onward to Dammam on the Gulf, including a spur to the industrial city of Jubail. By creating the first direct east-west rail corridor across Saudi Arabia, the Landbridge will revolutionise freight logistics. Transport times for containers and goods will shrink from days by truck or ship to mere hours by rail, slashing logistics costs. The Landbridge will also carry passengers, enabling fast travel between major cities. 

GCC Regional Rail Connectivity: This 2,100+km network – slated for completion around 2030 – will tie together all six GCC states. Key corridors for Saudi Arabia include a line north to Kuwait City-Riyadh, and another south linking Riyadh with Doha, Qatar (via the Saudi-Qatar border at Salwa). There is also a planned connection from Dammam eastward via a new causeway to Bahrain. Saudi Arabia, by virtue of its geography, will host the largest share of the GCC rail route, effectively becoming the backbone of Gulf connectivity. 

Q-Express to Qiddiya: Qiddiya, an upcoming entertainment city west of Riyadh and one of the Vision 2030 gigaprojects, will be connected to Riyadh’s King Khalid International airport by a high-speed rail line. Planners envision using cutting-edge technology such as magnetic-levitation (maglev) trains to whisk visitors from the airport to Qiddiya in record time. This roughly 40km connection, being structured as a public-private partnership (PPP), will enhance Qiddiya’s accessibility for international tourists and Riyadh residents, while showcasing futuristic transit tech. The Q-Express is part of a broader strategy to integrate new economic cities, such as Qiddiya, Neom and others, into the national transport grid from the outset, ensuring these developments are well-connected and sustainable.

Financing Rail Projects in Saudi Arabia

Given the Vision 2030 emphasis on private sector participation, Saudi Arabia has a diverse range of financing tools for its rail programme:

PPPs: In a PPP, private consortiums can design, build, finance and often operate infrastructure, sharing risks and rewards with the public sector. Saudi authorities see PPPs as a way to deliver projects efficiently while conserving public capital for other priorities. The Riyadh Metro, while government-funded during construction, will involve private operators for its operations and maintenance contracts. More directly, the upcoming Qiddiya rail link is planned as a PPP concession, with international firms invited to invest and bring innovative technology. The long-delayed Landbridge project, after earlier attempts, is now also expected to be executed via a PPP/BOT (build-operate-transfer) structure, overseen by Saudi Railway Company (SAR) and the Public Investment Fund (PIF). 

Islamic Finance: Saudi Arabia’s leadership in Islamic finance makes sharia-compliant funding mechanisms a natural fit for its rail investments. Project sponsors and government-related entities have the option to issue sukuk (Islamic bonds) or use Islamic project finance structures to fund rail construction. These instruments attract capital from local and regional banks and funds that prefer sharia-compliant assets. For example, the PIF has raised billions through sukuk to support infrastructure development. Rail projects – which generate steady long-term cash flows and tangible assets – are well-suited to Islamic finance principles like asset-backing and profit-sharing. This approach also resonates with the cultural and religious context, making public support for these projects even stronger.

Sustainable Finance: Saudi Arabia is turning to sustainable finance to fund rail and transit as sustainability becomes a global investment theme. Green bonds and loans fund environmental projects and rail qualifies by cutting emissions. Through their green bond frameworks, the government and PIF have issued multibillion-dollars bonds that include clean transport. By identifying projects aiming to improve environmental outcomes, Saudi Arabia can tap into the growing pool of internal ESG-focused investors who are eager to finance low-carbon infrastructure.  This can potentially lower borrowing costs and enhance the kingdom’s image as a sustainable development champion.  Additionally, global development banks and export credit agencies have shown interest in supporting Gulf rail projects on climate grounds. For instance, a significant portion of the Riyadh Metro’s rolling stock and systems was financed via export credits, and future rail lines could attract sustainable development loans.

Transforming transport

The time is ripe for rail – it addresses urgent urban challenges and propels the kingdom toward its Vision 2030 objectives of sustainability, connectivity and diversified growth. As of October 2025, Saudi Arabia’s rail sector has a clear baseline: strong urban demand and Vision 2030 policy direction; a proven Haramain high-speed corridor; the six-line Riyadh Metro; and a pipeline centered on the Landbridge, GCC links and connectors such as the Q-Express. The kingdom has set targets to raise public transport’s share from 1% to 15% by 2030 and plans to add more than 8,000km of track under the NTLS. Financing pathways are established with early application on major assets. Together, these facts define the current state and provide a benchmark against which delivery, ridership, emissions and broader economic outcomes can be measured as projects move from plan to operation.

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