French railway manufacturer Alstom announced on Wednesday that it had signed a contract worth more than 500 million euros for the construction of a tram in Al-Ula, a historic city located in northwest Saudi Arabia.
The line, 22.4 kilometers long through UNESCO World Heritage sites, “will be an unprecedented alliance between opulence, history and sustainable mobility,” according to a press release. The manufacturer will supply 20 trams of the Citadis family, which will be battery-powered. They will be manufactured in France and assembled in La Rochelle.
The contract with the Royal Commission of Al-Ula (RCU) provides for the design of the complete system through to commissioning, the equipment of the depot and the complete maintenance of the network for ten years.
A mission entrusted to Jean-Yves Le Drian
Al-Ula is a site particularly rich in archaeological remains and notable landscapes that Saudi Arabia wishes to promote to make tourism a pillar of its development and diversify its income beyond the windfall of oil.
The French Agency for the Development of Al-Ula (Afalula), a structure chaired by the former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, whose mission is to cooperate with the Saudi authorities for the tourist and cultural development of the area, announced in October the signing of a “strategic partnership” with Alstom, without giving an amount.
The Al-Ula Royal Commission has already signed a contract with RATP Dev (RATP subsidiary for operations outside the Ile-de-France) to create “an integrated, sustainable and intelligent mobility network”.
Source: BFM TV
