Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Saudi government has awarded the contracts to build the Riyadh Metro to three consortiums consisting of local and international companies. Spain’s FCC Construccion will lead the consortium known as FAST, Italy’s Ansaldo STS will lead the Arriyadh New Mobility (ANM) group, while USA-based Bechtel will lead the BACS consortium.

The project was announced after approval by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz.

Riyadh Governor Prince Khaled Bin Bandar, chairman of the High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh, unveiled the USD 22.5 billion Riyadh Metro project at a ceremony in the Saudi capital on Sunday.

According to the contracts, the Blue Line, linking the Alia–Batha axis, and worth around USD 6.561 billion was awarded to the BACS consortium. BACS was also awarded the Red Line, which runs on the King Abdullah Road axis and worth USD 2.88 billion.

The Yellow Line, which will run on the Medina Road and Prince Saad Bin Abdulrahman Road axis, was awarded to the ANM group at a cost of USD 5.211 billion, while the Orange Line, which will run on the King Khalid Airport axis, was awarded to the FAST consortium at a cost of USD 3.060 billion.

The FAST consortium was also awarded the contract for the Green Line which will run on the King Abdulaziz axis at a cost of USD 2.266 billion, and the Purple Line which will run on the axis between Abdulrahman Bin Awf Road and Shaykh Hassan Bin Hussein Road, at a cost of USD 2.167 billion.

The agreements also included awarding the contracts for the King Abdullah and Alia Stations to the BACS consortium, and the Qasr Al-Hukm and the Gharbiyah Stations to the ANM group.

Prince Khalid Bin Bandar said: “This project, which aims to make people’s lives easier and reduce their transport burden, combines the strengthening of the status of Saudi Arabia, and supporting its municipal constituents as a one of the fastest growing metropolises in the world.”

The project is due to start in the first quarter of 2014.