The Saudi Railways Organisation (SRO) has signed a SR391.5 million ($104.3 million) contract with a Saudi Arabian contractor for the first phase of track-doubling on the Riyadh-Harad-Dammam freight-only line, said a report.

The contract involves doubling a 214 km section of the line from Hofuf to Harad, and is expected to be completed in two years, said the International Railway Journal report.

The project will enable increased capacity, lengthen trains and cut the 14-hour transit time for freight trains, by reducing the occasions when trains have to wait in passing loops, it said.

The double-track section will be designed for 150km/h running as SRO plans to introduce a passenger service between Hofuf and Harad, and to Al Kharj at a later stage.

The tender documents are being completed for the second phase of the project to double the section between Riyadh and Al Kharj, said the report.

The contract will include reconstruction of bridges, and provision of signalling and telecommunications to enable use of the line by both freight and passenger trains, it added.