China Railway 18th Bureau Group has secured a 6.5 billion yuan (around $970 million) contract from Saudi-based Rua Al Madinah Holding Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), for the construction of a 5-km-long tunnel in Madinah.

As the key developer of the Medina Tunnel Project, Rua Al Madinah Holding Company aims to complete it within 42 months as it comes within the Grand Mosque revamp project.

Canada’s WSP and US-based Parsons are among the consultants working on the project.

The scope of work includes building of AH tunnel, the Ali Bin Abi Talib tunnel, the airport tunnel as well as the auxiliary projects. A pedestrian bridge will also be built under the project.

As per the contract, China Railway 18th Bureau Group will be mainly responsible for the structure and decoration of the pedestrian bridge, as well as the structure, decoration and internal MEP construction of the underground passage.

Medina Tunnel Project is a vital infrastructure development for the PIF as part of its 2018-2020 plan and also an important project of the "Vision Realization Plan" initiated by the Saudi government to ensure the realization of the "2030 Vision".

With the signing of the Medina Tunnel Infrastructure Development Project Contract, we have entered the Saudi sovereign fund investment market and will now demonstrate our Chinese power in quality development," remarked Chen Debin, the general manager of China Railway 18th Bureau Group (Saudi Arabia).

"As an important religious and cultural center in Saudi Arabia, Madinah will build local infrastructure with higher quality skills and higher standards to demonstrate China's strength," noted Debin.

"Over the past 21 years, we have played a major role in more than 30 projects across Saudi Arabia including Makkah Light Rail, Saudi North-South Railway, Makkah-Madinah High-speed Railway and other key government projects," he added.-TradeArabia News Service

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