The North-South Railway project is a 2,400km railway line across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, designed for mixed use, carrying passengers, freight and bauxite and phosphate ore. These were brought into service at the beginning of 2013.
SYSTRA was at the head of an international consortium responsible for the feasibility and detailed design of the line (from 2004 to 2006), then for supervising its construction (2006 to 2024).
In 2017, the first passenger train left the new Riyadh Station for Qassim. The result of more than 13 years of unwavering commitment by the Group on the ground and in the business units.
SOLID EXPERTISE IN ROLLING STOCK
SYSTRA’s remit covered rolling stock, in particular: locomotives, different types of freight and passenger carriages and track maintenance equipment.
For this component, the scope of action covered technical specifications, tender documents, bid evaluation, manufacturing supervision (FAT: Factory Acceptance Test / SAT: Site Acceptance Test), and assistance with equipment acceptance.
To satisfy these three operations, the network includes 6 passenger stations, 8 inter-modal terminals and 3 mining terminals. The line crosses an extreme desert environment, requiring the construction of very high embankments (up to 90m) to cross the dunes of the Nafud desert.





