On March 10, 2004, SYSTRA Group has been awarded the contract by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance to undertake detailed design for the North-South Railway project. SYSTRA will work closely with its partners, CANARAIL Consultants, the project’s leader and Saudi Consolidated Engineering Company - Khatib & Alami, to complete this 9.8 M US$ mandate.

The project is a major investment in infrastructure by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and will conclude with the construction of 1,800 km of standard gauge single railway track. Its primary objective will be to connect bauxite and phosphate mines at Az Zubairah and Al Jalamid to processing facilities located at the Persian Gulf port of Ras Azur. The route will use Saudi Railway Organization’s (SRO) existing 430km railway network between Riyadh and Dammam. Transport of ore from the mines is planned to begin in 2008.

SYSTRA, CANARAIL, and SCEC will undertake the following activities: general design of the transportation system and the operating plan, preliminary route definition, functional definition of systems and rolling stock, detailed design of the railway roadbed and track structure, and evaluation of SRO’s existing infrastructure and superstructure. The contract also involves an economic and financial evaluation including options to offer passenger services or to build a 275km extension to Jordan.

The SYSTRA Group will undertake project management, technical definition of the railway transportation system, preliminary design of the alignment and design of the improvements required to SRO’s lines. This contract is to be carried out in 2 phases over an 18-month period.