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Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) has floated another tender inviting firms to bid for a contract covering the project management consultancy services for its Phosphate 3 rail programme.

The tender was issued on 15 February with a bid submission deadline of 5 April.

The contract duration is 54 months.

The latest tender follows SAR floating a multibillion-riyal tender to double the tracks on the existing phosphate transport railway network connecting the Waad Al-Shamal mines to Ras Al-Khair in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

The tender – covering the second section of the track-doubling works, spanning more than 150 kilometres (km) – was issued on 9 February. The bid submission deadline is 15 April.

Earlier this month, MEED reported that SAR received bids from contractors on 1 February for the project’s first phase, which spans about 100km from the AZ1/Nariyah Yard to Ras Al-Khair.

The scope includes track doubling, alignment modifications, new utility bridges, culvert widening and hydrological structures, as well as the conversion of the AZ1 siding into a mainline track.

The scope also covers support for signalling and telecommunications systems.

The tender notice was issued in late November with a bid submission deadline of 20 January.

Switzerland-based engineering firm ARX is the project consultant.

MEED understands that SAR is expected to tender a total of four packages for the phosphate railway line.

The other packages expected to be tendered shortly include the depot and the systems package.

In 2023, MEED reported that SAR was planning two projects to increase its freight capacity, including an estimated SR4.2bn ($1.1bn) project to install a second track along the North Train freight line and construct three new freight yards.

Formerly known as the North-South Railway, the North Train is a 1,550km-long freight line running from the phosphate and bauxite mines in the far north of the kingdom to the Al-Baithah junction. There, it diverges into a line southwards to Riyadh and a second line running east to downstream fertiliser production and alumina refining facilities at Ras Al-Khair on the Gulf coast.

Adding a second track and the freight yards will significantly increase the network’s cargo-carrying capacity and facilitate increased industrial production. Project implementation is expected to take four years.

State-owned SAR is also considering increasing the localisation of railway materials and equipment, including the construction of a cement sleeper manufacturing facility.