Tender Launched for Design Management and Review Consultancy for the 672 km Saudi Section of the Gulf Railway

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Saudi Railway Company (SAR) has issued a tender for design management and review consultancy for the Saudi section of the Gulf Railway, with tender number 799765 and a bid submission deadline of October 18. The winning consultant will be responsible for managing, auditing, and verifying the engineering design deliverables submitted by the independent design consultancy, and for preparing the design management and review plan. The scope of work covers governance structure, multidisciplinary coordination, stage approvals, stakeholder communication, project interface management, and supervision of work related to the design consultancy's land acquisition plan.

The Saudi section of the Gulf Railway is approximately 672 km long, extending south from Al-Khafji in the Eastern Province near the Kuwait border to Al-Batha on the Saudi-UAE border, and connecting to Saudi Arabia's existing railway network. The project also includes regional railway interfaces toward Qatar and Bahrain. The line is planned as a single-track, non-electrified mixed passenger and freight railway with a maximum axle load of 32.4 tons and passing loops along the route. The design speed is up to 220 km/h for passenger trains and 80–120 km/h for freight trains.

This consultancy service will cover three stages: conceptual design, preliminary design, and construction drawing design. The planned schedule is 4 months for conceptual design, 6 months for preliminary design, and 6 months for Issued for Construction construction drawing design, with an additional 4-week buffer period for each stage. The consultancy team must be stationed at SAR office premises from project commencement. Key positions include Project Director, Engineering and Design Manager, Stakeholder Manager, and Document Management Lead. The Project Director must have at least 25 years of work experience, including more than 15 years in the railway industry.

In May of this year, SAR separately launched procurement for design consultancy services for the Saudi section. The design scope includes reviewing, updating, and improving the existing preliminary design, and completing conceptual, preliminary, and construction drawing designs. On July 14, a total of 5 bidding groups submitted proposals, including the Atkins and Khatib & Alami consortium, the Deutsche Bahn and ARX consortium, the Egis and Sener consortium, the Idom and Dar Al-Handasah consortium, and Systra. After the design deliverables are completed and approved, the railway construction contract will be procured through a separate competitive tender.

The Gulf Railway is planned to connect the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, with a total regional railway length of approximately 2,177–2,186 km. The Kuwait section has already advanced its design work. Turkey's Proyapı signed an engineering and consultancy services contract with Kuwait's public works authority. The first phase of the line is approximately 111 km, extending from the Shadadiya area to the Nuwaiseeb border in the south, connecting with the railway toward Saudi Arabia. Proyapı has commenced preliminary design of the line, environmental and geotechnical investigations, and cross-border interface coordination work.