The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) has issued the request for proposal notice to selected firms to design and build Line 7 of the Riyadh Metro project.

MEED understands that the client issued the tender notice in mid-September. The RCRC has given consortiums six months to prepare the bids.

The submission deadline is 10 March 2025.

The RCRC received prequalification forms from contractors for the tender in February this year.

MEED previously reported that several of the consortiums planning to bid for the contract to deliver Line 7 of the Riyadh Metro have changed. Some civil contractors have joined teams, while others have decided not to participate in the tender.

According to sources close to the project, the consortiums planning to bid for the project include:

• Alstom (France) / FCC (Spain) / Freysinnet Contracting (local) / WeBuild (Italy) / Nesma (local)
• Siemens (Germany) / Samsung C+T (South Korea) / Acciona (Spain) / Alayuni (local)
• Hitachi Rail (Japan) / OHLA (Spain) / Daewoo (South Korea) / Hyundai E&C (South Korea) / Almabani (local) / Albawani (local)
• CRRC (China) / Mapa (Turkiye) / Limak (Turkiye)

Spanish consulting firms Typsa and Ayesa, along with US-based Aecom, are the design consultants for the Alstom-led consortium.

Spain-headquartered Idom, South Korea’s Dowha and Switzerland’s Pini are the designers for the Siemens-led team.

Spanish engineering firm Sener is the design consultant for the Hitachi Rail-led group.

The project involves constructing a metro line linking Qiddiya Entertainment City, King Abdullah International Gardens, King Salman Park, Misk City and Diriyah Gate. The total length of the line will be about 65 kilometres (km), of which 47km will be underground and 19km will be elevated.

The line will have 19 stations, 14 of which will be built underground and five overground.

The consultants working on the scheme are France’s Egis and Lebanon-based Dar Al-Handasah, according to regional project tracker MEED Projects.

In June 2020, a joint venture led by French consultancy Systra won the preliminary design contract for the second phase of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Metro.

Riyadh Metro

Riyadh Metro’s first phase features six lines with 84 stations.

In November 2022, the RCRC struck a deal with three contracting consortiums working on the Riyadh Metro scheme regarding the completion of the project’s remaining works.

Construction activity on the project had slowed in recent years due to disputes over prolongation and the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The RCRC awarded the main construction packages for the scheme on 28 July 2013.

The Fast consortium won lines 4, 5 and 6, reportedly valued at $7.82bn. The Bacs consortium was awarded lines 1 and 2 for $9.45bn, while Arriyadh New Mobility secured Line 3 for $5.21bn.

US firm Bechtel leads the Bacs consortium. Italian firm Ansaldo STS is the leader of the Arriyadh New Mobility group, and Spanish firm FCC Construccion heads the Fast consortium.

AtkinsRealis has delivered programme management and supervision services for the operations and maintenance of the Riyadh Metro scheme.