"HARAMAIN" HIGH SPEED PROJECT

One of the largest transport infrastructure projects in the Middle East.

An RTI joint venture comprising FS Engineering and Italcertifer—both subsidiaries of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group—signed a contract in Madrid with the Spanish-Saudi "Al Shoula" consortium. Under this agreement, the joint venture acted as the Independent Safety Verification Engineer (SVE) for Phase 2 of the Haramain High-Speed Railway Project in Saudi Arabia.

The remit involved certifying the safety and quality requirements, in strict accordance with European standards and regulations, for the traction power supply, track infrastructure, command, control and signalling (CCS) systems, rolling stock, and the operations and maintenance (O&M) subsystems of the new Medina-Mecca high-speed line.

The services delivered by the FS Engineering-Italcertifer joint venture were fully approved by the Saudi Railway Organisation (the contracting authority). This major contract covered the construction and operational management of the new high-speed line, which is purpose-built to accommodate pilgrim traffic between the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Securing this contract highlights the global reputation for quality that Italy enjoys in both engineering design and safety standards certification.

The high-speed rail corridor extends for approximately 450 km, connecting the two holy cities via King Abdullah Economic City. The infrastructure comprises 449.2 km of main line alongside a 3.75 km branch line serving King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah. The alignment is engineered for a maximum operational speed of 300 km/h.

The works are now complete.