CRCC unit wins part of US$1.8 bln contract from Saudi Arabia

Mar. 5, 2009 (China Knowledge) - A unit of China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC)<601186><1186>, together with two Saudi firms, has won part of a US$1.8 billion railway infrastructure deal from Saudi Arabia, the Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The contractors will be responsible of building part of a 450 km high-speed railway connecting Islam's two holy sites, the Red Sea port city of Jeddah to Mecca and Medina, according to the report.

The railway, aiming to ease the traffic jam, is scheduled to finish by the end of 2012. It is expected that the railway project will help boost the number of worshippers travelling to the holy sites to 14 million per year by 2030, according to Saudi Arabia's transportation ministry.

Last month, CRCC won a deal worth RMB 12.1 billion to lay 18 km of railway line in Saudi Arabia. After completion, the railway line is expected to carry 72,000 passengers per hour at peak period.