Tunnelling work for Riyadh Metro’s Line 5 (Green Line), which is being constructed by the FAST Consortium, was completed last month.

FAST is constructing three lines – Green, Yellow and Purple – entailing 33 km of viaducts, 22 km of underground tracks and 9 km of at-grade section and is one of three international consortia commissioned to build the metro project’s six lines.

The Green Line runs underground within a bored tunnel along King Abdulaziz Road, one of the main arteries running through the city of Riyadh. It is 13 km long and it features 11 deep underground stations, in addition to two transfer stations with the Red and Blue lines.

The Riyadh Metro project has seven tunnel boring machines (TBMs) working and the recently completed tunnel is the second TBM to complete excavation works in the city. 

In addition to announcing the end of tunnel excavation work, a full-size mock-up of the Riyadh Metropolis trains manufactured by Alstom was unveiled. 

The event also marks the kick-off of construction by Alstom of the track works, an important milestone for the project. The work will commence within an at-grade section of the Yellow Line, and will be the first tracks to be installed throughout the Riyadh Metro project. 

Alstom is supplying a fully integrated metro system which includes 69 Metropolis trains, Urbalis signalling, the energy recovery system Hesop and tracks. 

The Metropolis trains for the Riyadh Metro Project are composed of two cars per set and are each 36 m long. Each train features three classes: first, family and single class. The trains are driverless and 100 per cent motorised, allowing them to run on gradients of up to a 6 per cent slope. 

The Riyadh metro system will have 85 stations and six main lines, covering a total of 176 km.