The long suspended Gulf railway network has achieved a substantial breakthrough, and the cross-border high-speed railway connecting Kuwait to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has confirmed the start of construction. This high-speed corridor that crosses the core economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council will completely rewrite the land transportation pattern of the Arabian Peninsula and lay a solid transportation foundation for the deep integration of regional economy and trade.

Line Overview

This 500 kilometer high-speed railway is designed to travel at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour, and in the future, it will only take two hours for a one-way trip from Kuwait City to Riyadh. 85 kilometers of road section will be laid within Kuwait, with the endpoint landing at Shadadia, and a large hub station of 2 million square meters will be constructed. The route is planned to operate three passenger trains per day, with a maximum daily passenger capacity of 3200 people. Compared with the current six to seven hour road journey and cumbersome waiting for short haul flights, it has strong competitiveness. The preliminary design of the project was completed by Türkiye enterprises. The design contract of US $8.1 million was launched last year. The construction bidding of Kuwait section was started immediately after the design work was completed.

Regional Value

The project is a key infrastructure of Kuwait's 2035 Vision and a key component of the Gulf Rail Network with a total investment of 15 billion US dollars. The overall road network is planned to be fully connected by 2030. The route is mainly for passenger transportation, filling the gap in land transportation in the Gulf region, reducing the dependence on air and sea transportation for regional travel, and promoting bilateral trade between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. With the gradual launch of bidding for railway segments in multiple countries in the Gulf, infrastructure leaders such as China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) have a good opportunity for overseas bidding. They can rely on mature high-speed rail technology to expand the Middle East rail transit market and deeply participate in the construction of the Gulf multimodal transport system. Keywords: Gulf high-speed rail network, Middle East cross-border rail transit

The entire cross-border high-speed railway is scheduled to start construction within 2026, connecting the core cities of the Arabian Peninsula, creating a new development path for personnel exchanges, commercial circulation, and industrial synergy, injecting long-term momentum into the economic integration of the Gulf Cooperation Council.Editor/Min Jing