Riyadh metro to open this year, Saudi minister says

• Al-Jasser heralds metro opening
• Riyadh metro to ease gridlock
• City will host three giga-projects

Riyadh’s delayed metro system will officially open later this year, the Saudi minister of transport said this week, as the kingdom’s rapidly expanding capital wrestles with crippling traffic congestion. 

“The Royal Commission for Riyadh has said it will open this year,” Saleh Al-Jasser, the transport minister, said in an interview with Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV. 

“This is the biggest metro project in the world being built in one go. It’s only a short time before it will be opening and the long wait will end. We look forward to its addition to Riyadh, the great capital witnessing a new lift-off through the giga-projects,” he said. 

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Riyadh is at the centre of Saudi Arabia’s economic development plans as the host of three giga-projects: the historical district of Diriyah, the new downtown area of New Murabba and sports and entertainment city Qiddiya. 

Riyadh will also host the 2030 World Expo, bringing global attention to its Vision 2030 social and economic transformation plan and creating pressure to finish projects on time. 

The city is expected to expand from a population of more than 7 million at present to over 9 million by 2030, but is already hobbled by daily traffic gridlock caused by rural migration and rising numbers of expatriates working on the development projects. 

• Riyadh’s road network gets a $3.5bn upgrade
• Giga-project slowdown to hit Riyadh population growth
• Mecca expands public transport as Eid al-Adha nears

The metro project was initially set for completion in 2018 but was beset with corruption in its early stages, a Gulf-based diplomat said. 

Bids opened last year for an extra seventh line which will run from the airport to Qiddiya, passing through the Diriyah district and the Diplomatic Quarter. 

It was not clear which lines would open in this year’s official inauguration. Lines have been conducting train test runs over the past year. 

Metro projects are also planned for the holy city of Mecca and the eastern port city of Dammam.