Alstom, as part of a consortium, received a letter of award by the Saudi Arabian-based Riyadh Development Authority (ADA) to provide a complete automatic and driverless metro system to equip three of the six lines to be built by the city.

The total value of this project, which is financed by the Government of Saudi Arabia through the Public Investment Fund, amounts to $7.9 billion of which Alstom’s share represents more than $1.5 billion. The project also includes also an option for 10 years of maintenance services. Contract signature should occur within 2 to 3 months.

Riyadh counts almost 6 million inhabitants with an expected population explosion in 2030 set to increase the population to more than 8 million. The city has decided to build six new subway lines in order to reduce traffic congestion, enhance the economic dynamism of the Saudi capital and improve its inhabitants’ quality of life. One of the largest turnkey metro projects ever launched in the world, this fully automatic driverless network will be 105 miles long and will include 87 stations. The network is scheduled to enter commercial service in 2018.

Alstom will provide the city of Riyadh with its fully integrated metro solution that combines company’s state-of-the-art metro sub-systems. It includes the rolling stock (69 Metropolis trains), Urbalis signaling, the energy recovery system, HESOP, as well as the fast track laying technology, Appitrack — a technology that installs tracks three times faster than traditional methods.

Each train is composed of two cars and is 100% motorized. It is about 118 feet long and 9 feet wide. This metro has three levels of comfort: First class, Family and Single. To minimize delays between trains, the Metropolis trains will be controlled by two operational control centers equipped with the Urbalis driverless system.

In order to optimize energy consumption, the traction power system will be equipped with HESOP, Alstom’s innovative reversible substation solution, which allows the energy recovered during braking to be re-used by the network.

Metropolis trains and the infrastructure components for Riyadh will be produced at Alstom Transport’s sites in Europe.