Metro Riyadh L5

Metro Riyadh L5

The FCC-led consortium, FAST, has finished drilling the tunnel section of line 5 (green line) of the Riyadh Metro. The drilling works, which began on 30 June 2015 at the new central office for the Ministry of Education, will continue on the north section of line 5 (green line) until finish the 12.9 km tunnel of line 5.

To construct the three lines awarded under the contract, the FAST consortium will use two 9.77 metre-wide tunnel boring machines that will excavate tunnels with a circular cross section. Overall, seven tunnel boring machines will be used to complete the Riyadh Metro project, which stands as the largest underground commuter train network under construction worldwide, covering 176 kilometres and 85 stations.

The works are expected to be completely finished by the end of 2018. Therefore, FAST (also made up of Samsung, Alstom, Strukton, Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, Typsa, Atkins and Setec) will employ close to 15,000 workers of more than 33 nationalities. FCC is undertaking the challenge of designing and constructing a first-class metro for the capital of Saudi Arabia, which currently has a population of 5.7 million people. 2% of the population uses public transport, which equates to approximately 7.4 million journeys made daily. The population is expected to rise to 8.3 million people by 2030, therefore the Riyadh Metro will, as well as boosting the local economy, improve the Saudi quality of life.