Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Metro Vehicles Unveiled

Image courtesy of Siemens

Siemens have unveiled the new Inspiro type metro vehicles specially designed for the Riyadh Metro, the world’s biggest mass transit project. The six lines will run a total length of 175km. Siemens work on the project includes provision of the rolling stock, as well as signalling and communication equipment for driverless operation on lines 1 and 2, under a contract worth €1.5billion.

Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens Mobility said:

“Our project teams in Vienna and Saudi Arabia poured all their heart and soul into the development and completion of the first train which is specially equipped for the extreme climatic conditions in Riyadh. So we are especially proud to be the first of the three consortia to present our vehicle to the public.”

Because of the extreme heat the metro will operate in, the first train is undergoing testing in the climatic wind tunnel at Rail Tec Arsenal (RTA) in Vienna, with dynamic testing to begin later this year at the Siemens Test and Validation Center in Wildenrath, Germany.

It is the first of 74 Insipro metro trains which will be delivered to the metro. They are two and four-car trains, aluminum bodied and will run on  standard-gauge track at a top speed of 90 km/h, designed to withstand the climactic conditions in the region with a powerful air conditioning system, with bogies, traction drive, brakes and doors with special components to prevent sand ingress.