(08/04/2022) 
The contract involves performing maintenance work in partnership with the Saudi operator, on the trains CAF has supplied in the country over recent years, for a term of five years. These are the units currently running on the North-South line, which connects the capital city of Riyadh to Qurayyat on the Jordanian border, as well as those units running on the East-West line, which connects Riyadh to Dammam: a railway network extending for more than 1,700 km which also connects other areas of the country such as Hail, Al-Qassim and Al-Hofuf.

Furthermore, an agreement has been reached to establish a joint engineering department, known as the "Engineering Excellence Centre", whose purpose will be to train SAR staff to carry out maintenance work on the units, as well as to adapt the Saudi company's facilities for the overhaul of the main systems of the units as contemplated in this contract. The latter will mean adapting the workshops for bogie and axle maintenance, changing rolling gear, and fitting out specific areas to overhaul engines and pneumatic components.

Agreements

At the same time, agreements will be established with local universities and technical centres to conduct research work and improve railway competences and expertise in the region. The contract also includes implementing SAR's "Digital Hub Centre" as a benchmark centre in the region for train digitalisation. This project will be based on CAF's digital train platform, called LeadMind.