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Spain-based engineering consultancy Sener has won the lead design contract for Saudi Arabia’s estimated $7 billion Landbridge rail project, one of the Kingdom’s largest transport infrastructure schemes connecting western and eastern sea boards, according to reports by local English daily Saudi Gazette, US-based industry news portal Construction Review Online and other media.
Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) had invited bids for the contract in April 2025.
The 1,500-kilometre railway connects Jeddah on the Red Sea to Dammam and Jubail on the Gulf coast, and includes a mix of brownfield upgrades and greenfield construction.
Once operational, the railway is expected to move over 50 million tonnes of freight per year, according to Eurogroup Consulting.
In January 2026, Saudi Gazette had reported that the project is likely to be completed before 2034. The report, citing an interview given by the SAR CEO Bashar Al-Malik to a local TV channel said initial plans to implement project with a Chinese consortium fell through after their proposal failed to meet local content requirements. He said the rail project will instead be delivered “through a new mechanism and in phases.”
Sener is also part of project management services consortium with Italy’s Italferr and US-based Hill International, according to a December 2023 International Railway Journal report.
In September 2025, Italferr had said in a press statement that it is involved in important collaborations with SAR for the Landbridge project. The company’s website said it signed with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), on behalf of the SAR, a contract for the extension of the detailed design of the Landbridge connecting Jeddah and Jubail along a new route named Blue Corridor.
It said the assignment stems from a previous contract signed by Italferr in July 2013 for the preliminary and final design of a new railway line between Riyadh and Jeddah, for a total length of 958 km, along the route named 'Red Corridor.'
(Writing by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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