A consortium of European construction and transport firms has landed a deal to operate and maintain four of the six lines on Riyadh's new metro system.

The FLOW consortium, comprising Italian rail infrastructure contractor Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, signalling systems firm Ansaldo STS and rail specialist Alstom have been given a letter of award to operate and maintain lines 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Riyadh Metro for a 12-year period.

It said the total value of the award equates to around 10.9 billion Saudi Arabian riyals ($2.91 billion), and that the provision of rolling stock and systems infrastructure accounts for more than €730 million ($853.4 million) of this. The contract was awarded by the Arriyadh Development Authority.

In a press release, Alstom  said that its scope involved the full maintenance of the transit system, including the trains, tracks, signalling, communications, passenger information systems and the power supply.

“We are honoured that our client ADA, for whom we are currently supplying a fully integrated Metro System for lines 4, 5 and 6 (Yellow, Green, and Purple lines), is renewing its trust in Alstom’s capabilities," said Didier Pfleger, senior vice president for Alstom in the Middle East and Africa region.

The consortium's contract also includes operations and maintenace of a total of 50 stations, including two main and five interchange stations, three depots and three operations centres.

A soft opening of the six-line, $35 billion Riyadh Metro project is due to start next year.

(Writing by Michael Fahy; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)


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