The Dream of the Desart’ rail project

Sherazur Rahman##

Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) is now going to launch an ambitious and luxurious train service called ‘Dream of the Desert’. As part of its ambitious Vision 2030, Saudi Arabian Railway Company has already completed a contract worth 53.32 million dollars with Arsonal Group of Italy.
Under the ‘Dream of the Desert’ project, Saudi Arabia’s new luxury rail service will be launched by the end of 2025. This ambitious rail service will run from the country’s capital, Riyadh, to the city of Qurayyat near the Jordanian border, passing a series of interesting and historic sites across the vast desert.
The route will pass through long stretches of scenic deserts and UNESCO World Heritage archeological sites. Highlights include the city of Ha’il, the Al-Qassim province, and the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Royal Natural Reserve in Al Jouf. The journey will conclude at Al-Qurayat, near the Jordanian border.
The total length of the ‘Dream of the Desert’ railway will be 800 miles, or about 1,300 km. This train will have 40 luxurious cabins and a maximum passenger capacity of 82. Originally, this long desert journey would have been introduced as a short trip package of one or two nights.
As part of national vision 2030, the honorable Mohammad Bin Salman government has already invested more than $800 billion in massive infrastructure development in the next decade to welcome approximately 70 million international tourists a year by 2030.##