Riyadh-Kuwait High Speed Rail To Be Completed By 2028

A high-speed railway connecting the kIngdom of Saudi Arabia, with its neighbour, Kuwait, will be fully completed and operational by 2028.

Stretching over 650 kilometres, this ambitious project will establish swift rail connectivity between the two capitals, Riyadh and Kuwait City, slashing travel time to just two hours.

Starting from Al Shaddadiya in Kuwait, the railway route will traverse through Riyadh city, according to officials at the ministry of public works.

The project will consist of three phases; the first phase is studying the project and analysing the route, which will take approximately three months. Procedures and approvals for the first phase are almost done, reported by the officials.

The second is the design phase and it has been given a one-year time frame. The third is the execution of the project, which will take three years.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, known for their close diplomatic relations, entered an agreement in June 2023 to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study encompassing financial, economic, and technical aspects of the joint rail link.

It it to be noted that the Riyadh-Kuwait City rail line will complement the Gulf Railway project, which aims to connect all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states by rail.

GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. Launched in 2009, the Gulf Railway project aims to link major urban centers within the GCC, including Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Dubai in the UAE, and Kuwait City, via rail.

In November 2023, the committee of GCC transport ministers agreed during a meeting in Muscat that a 2,117km route connecting major cities across the six member states would be operational by 2030.