Thales, a global technology leader for the aerospace and transport sector, has won a two-year contract from the Saudi Railway Company (SAR) to maintain the signalling, telecommunication and electromechanical systems of the 2,400-km-long Northern Train project.

This contract also includes the transfer of knowledge to SAR national human capital teams, which complies with the objectives of “Saudi Arabia Vision 2030”, said the company in a statement.

The Northern Train project is the longest railway in the world equipped with state-of-the art technology signalling and communications systems, the ETCS  Level 2.

The project, currently in operation, involves the construction of 2,400 km of track, sidings, yards, depots, stations and administrative facilities of the two lines.

SAR transports passengers from the capital city of Riyadh to Qurrayat (northern Saudi Arabia), in addition to the heavy transport of minerals from the mines of the raw phosphates and bauxite in the northern and central regions to the processing and export sites on the Arabian Gulf, in addition to Wa’ad Al Shamal project.  

As per the contract, the maintenance activities will be performed by Thales through specialised engineers and technicians located across eight maintenance bases situated along the 2,400 km of railway line.

Jean-Yves Tolot, the country director for Saudi Arabia, said: "Throughout its historic presence in the kingdom, the Thales Group has developed very strong co-operation with local industries and universities to speed up the transfer of knowledge, know-how and capabilities."

"In line with “Saudi Vision 2030” and National Transformation Program 2020 (NTP 2020), this project further illustrates Thales commitment to ensure the SAR maintenance are able to continue in their efforts long after our contract expires and contribute towards the Kingdom’s success," noted Tolot.

"This contract win further solidifies our footprint in the kingdom. Along with our partners, we have established a solid industrial network to provide maintenance and services to our customers in the kingdom," he stated.

In addition to the partnership with SAR for the deployment and maintenance of its railway network, Thales provides maintenance services across all solutions and systems in use by significant transport infrastructure providers.

In the kingdom, Thales provides maintenance services to the Al Mashaer Al Mugaddassah Makkah Metro (MMMP), the metro of the holy sites in Makkah region besides the Saudi Arabian Airlines, remarked Tolot.

According to Thales, the Northern Train project contract includes the transfer of knowledge, which will be performed through a curriculum of training at its factories in the kingdom.

This will allow SAR maintenance teams to gradually and efficiently take over the maintenance activities by the end of the two-year contract, it added.-TradeArabia News Service