Dubai-based Emirates Building Systems (EBS) has been commissioned to supply steel structures for the Riyadh Metro Project’s second phase.

The contract win was announced by Dubai Investments, parent company of EBS, which is an expert in steel structure fabrication and provides engineering design and detailing as well as erection services. 

The metro contract is among several projects EBS won in recent months across Saudi Arabia and Oman as there is strong demand for steel structures in infrastructure projects in the region.

The $23 billion Riyadh Metro project, which has a completion date of 2018, will be delivered on time, the city’s governor has said.

The project includes construction of a metro, a bus system and other transport services in the Saudi capital. The metro’s six lines will cover 176 km, supported by a bus network of 1,150 km.

“The project is going very well” and according to plan, Prince Faisal bin Bandar said. It is the biggest infrastructure project in the history of the Saudi capital.

Three foreign consortiums are building the Metro with France’s Alstom, Canada’s Bombardier and Germany’s Siemens among the major participants.

Alwalid Alekrish, director of construction for development projects at Arriyadh Development Authority and project director of Riyadh Metro, had expressed he same sentiments as the governor about the metro weeks earlier. 

Several months ago, the first Inspiro trainset for the Riyadh metro was unveiled at Siemens’ Simmering plant in Vienna. The train is equipped for the extreme climatic conditions in Riyadh.

Siemens is part of the BACS consortium with Bechtel, Almabani General Contractors and Consolidated Contractors Co which is building lines 1 and 2 of the driverless metro network. Siemens’ share of the contract includes the rolling stock, signalling and electrification equipment.