- Title: French foreign minister visits Alstom project in Riyadh metro
- Date: 24th January 2017
- Summary: SAINT-OUEN, FRANCE (FILE) (REUTERS) ALSTOM HEADQUARTER EXTERIOR ALSTOM FLAG
- Embargoed: 7th February 2017 10:31
- Keywords: Alstom France metro train
- Location: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, ITALY / SAINT-OUEN, FRANCE/ COMPUTER GRAPHICS
- City: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, ITALY / SAINT-OUEN, FRANCE/ COMPUTER GRAPHICS
- Country: Saudi Arabia
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA00560FXAVB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault visited a metro construction site in Riyadh on Tuesday (January 24), where French transport company Alstom is a partner in the $24 billion project.
Alstom is a member of a consortium who won a contract in 2013 for the design and construction of lines 4, 5 and 6 of the Riyadh Metro.
"Now we are passing the difficult phase of this project, we are passing now the utility diversion, also the traffic diversion," deputy project director Ahmed Aldrees told Reuters.
There was speculation the project could be scaled back or delayed following a slump in Saudi Abaria's oil revenues. But the lines will be completed on schedule in 2019, Aldrees said.
"We finished 48% of the project, and we are moving on the schedule," he said.
The project, which involves six rail lines extending 176 kilometers (110 miles) and carrying electric, driverless trains, is the world's largest urban mass transit system currently under development, Saudi officials said last year.
Alstom has started the production of train sets for the Riyadh Metro in its Katowice plant in Poland. The first three Metropolis train sets will be delivered to Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA) in 2017.
Every step of the train's production including the final static and dynamic tests, is carried out in the Katowice plant, which hosts around 1,000 employees and is one of Alstom's largest manufacturing sites.
Last year, Saudi officials said Riyadh's population was projected to grow from 6 million to over 8 million in the next 10 years, making the metro vital to ease congestion and pollution in the capital's streets. There is currently no mass public transportation system in the Saudi capital.
In addition to raising living standards, the government says it wants to upgrade the country's infrastructure to help the economy diversify beyond oil, making it less vulnerable to any future plunge of global oil prices. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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