Neom invites bids for high-speed railway rolling stock tender

Saudi Arabia’s USD 500 bn mega project Neom has asked companies to submit their bids in October to provide rolling stock vehicles for the high-speed and freight railways dubbed the Connector South and the Spine, MEED reported last week. The Spine railway is an infrastructure corridor running along The Line residential development, while Connector South links The Line to the Oxagon industrial city. Neom declined to comment when approached by Enterprise Logistics.

Also up for grabs: Tenders will also be open for the electrification, signaling, and control systems for the The Spine and Connector South railways.

Six international companies are expected to offer bids: These include French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom, Spain’s CAF and Talgo, China’s state-owned CRRC, Japan’s Hitachi Rail, and Germany’s Siemens.

Background: Neom awarded aUSD1.5 bn contract to Italy’s WeBuild and KSA’s Shibh Al-Jazira Contracting (SAJCO) earlier in May for the construction of the 75km Connector South railway connecting The Line with Oxagon. The contract also covers viaducts, road and railway underpasses, a freight line, maintenance depots, and other infrastructure and auxiliary facilities.