SAUDI ARABIA: National rail operator Saudi Arabia Railways has launched a service designed to enable freight stranded in the country’s Gulf ports to be moved to the border with Jordan for onward transport by road.
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the war with the USA and Israel has halted marine traffic to and from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Port, King Fahd Industrial Port and Jubail Commercial Port.
Faced with a potential surge in road container traffic, SAR has launched the rail service to carry freight that would have been handled by the three eastern ports to and from Al-Haditha on the border with Jordan.
The 1 700 km route uses SAR’s tracks from Abdulaziz Port in Dammam, the eastern most point on its network, via its freight line to the capital Riyadh and then via the North-South Railway via Al Zabirah junction to Al-Haditha.
Services carrying 400 TEUs will operate in both directions. The transit time across Saudi Arabia is expected to be around half that of containers sent by road.
Transport Minister Saleh Al-Jasser said the service is ‘a practical model for the integration of transport modes’, which supports local exports, strengthens ties between Saudi Arabia and its northern neighbours and reinforces the integration between Saudi Arabia’s seaports, its rail network and its land border crossings. More
