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Saudi Arabia Railways Purchases 10 Next Generation Passenger Trains for Growing Network

Officials are seen at the signing ceremony. (SPA)
Officials are seen at the signing ceremony. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Railways Purchases 10 Next Generation Passenger Trains for Growing Network

Officials are seen at the signing ceremony. (SPA)
Officials are seen at the signing ceremony. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) signed a contract with Stadler, a Swiss rail infrastructure and train manufacturer, for the supply and maintenance of ten next-generation passenger trains for SAR's East railway network, alongside the option for SAR to order an additional ten units in the future.

As per the contract signed by SAR CEO Bashar AlMalik and Stadler President Peter Spuhler, the trains will meet the latest European and international standards while also being designed for the specific climate of Saudi Arabia to provide a comfortable and safe travel experience.

Each train will be able to carry around 340 passengers, with designated tracks for wheelchairs to serve people with mobility disabilities.

Minister of Transport and Chairman of the Board of Directors of SAR Saleh Al-Jasser attended the signing ceremony. He said these trains will double the annual capacity of the East Trains to over 3.8 million passengers annually and provide direct express service between Riyadh and Dammam to meet the growing demand for trips between the two main cities in the Kingdom.

AlMalik also said SAR is committed to achieving a comprehensive renaissance in the rail transport field in the Kingdom, adding that these modern trains will serve the entire operational scope of the East railway network by increasing seat capacity, the number of daily trips, and the annual capacity of the network, as these trains will cover the stations of Riyadh, Hofuf, Abqaiq and Dammam.

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Saudi Arabia Launches Carbon-Trading Market Platform to Finance to High Quality Climate Projects

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Launches Carbon-Trading Market Platform to Finance to High Quality Climate Projects

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia launched on Tuesday a carbon-trading market, a day after climate negotiators secured a major breakthrough by agreeing rules for a UN-administered global emissions market.

In a statement, Saudi Arabia's Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC) said 22 Saudi and international businesses are participating in the platform. They are Alpha Star, Aramco Trading Company, Eastern Province Cement Company, Energroup Limited, flynas, Gulf International Bank (GIB), Golf Saudi, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company Luberef, Ma’aden, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Red Sea Global (RSG), SAB, SABIC, Saudi Top Plastic Factory, SCB Environmental Markets SA, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), SNB, SOCAR, Valitera, Yamama Cement Company and Yanbu Cement Company.

The launch of the platform is a major milestone in Saudi Arabia’s ambition to become one of the largest voluntary carbon markets in the world by 2030.

Its first voluntary credits auctioned will be from projects in the Global South, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Vietnam.

The platform aims to scale up the supply and demand of high-quality carbon credits across the Global South and beyond, driving funding to climate projects that require finance, supporting the transition to global net zero emissions, the statement said.

To mark the launch, RVCMC is hosting inaugural transactions on the exchange platform starting Tuesday, auctioning over 2.5 million tons of high-quality carbon credits, it added.

The basket of credits connects buyers with 17 climate projects from across the world and to support Saudi Arabia’s carbon neutrality goals.

The platform is designed to meet market requirements for a transparent, scalable and increasingly liquid marketplace, by offering institutional grade infrastructure, to enable fast and secure transactions, price and data discovery for carbon credit projects, key to growing the market globally and providing a price signal on projects from MENA regions, open market connectivity, integrated with leading global registries, scope to develop specialized infrastructure for trade in carbon credits to enable Islamic Finance and auction market, RFQ and block trade functionality today, followed by spot market and other functions launching in 2025.

Speaking at the COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Riham ElGizy, RVCMC’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “The message coming into COP is clear: To accelerate global decarbonization we must unlock financial flows to critical climate projects on an enormous scale.”