Salini Impregilo, an Italian specialist in the construction and civil engineering business, said it has completed the tunnel excavation work along Line three of the Riyadh Metro project.

Also known as the Orange Line, it is the longest line of the massive project commissioned by the ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA) running more than 40 km long. Once completed, it will have 22 stations.

Salini Impregilo leads the ArRiyadh New Mobility (ANM) consortium, one of three involved in the $23-billion, six-line Riyadh Metro project that will cover 176 km.

The completion of the tunnel excavation work was celebrated in the presence of Riyadh Governor Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud at the Qasr Al Hoqm Downtown Station.

He was accompanied by Civil Service Minister Khaled Abdullah Al Araj, Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Abdul Lateef Al Asheikh, Transport Minister Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al Hamdan besides senior officials including Rumaih Mohammed Al Rumaih, the head of Public Transport Authority, Abdulrahman Mohammed Al Ibrahim, the chief executive of National Water Company and Ibrahim bin Mohammad Al Sultan, the Riyadh Mayor and ADA president.

The ambitious Riyadh metro system is aimed at helping reduce traffic congestion and air pollution in a city whose population is expected to rise from 6.5 million today to 8.3 million by 2030.

Located near the Riyadh governor’s palace in the heart of the city, the Downtown Station will be one of the iconic stations, with two underground metro lines passing through it.

Covering 20,000 sq m, it was designed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snohetta together with One Works and Crew. Its entrance will be covered by a massive inverted cone made of stainless steel that will provide shade for passengers and channel sunlight into the underground station.-TradeArabia News Service