French engineer Alstom will submit an offer on Saturday to supply trains and equipment for a high-speed railway linking Saudi Arabia's holy cities to the Red Sea coast.

Alstom Transport head Philippe Mellier said on Friday the contract was worth at least 10 billion euros ($12.5 billion) in total.

'We are submitting our offer tomorrow for the TGV (high-speed rail) in Saudi Arabia,' Mellier told Reuters on the sidelines of the Rencontres Economiques conference.

The 450-kilometre (280 mile) railway will link the spiritual heart of Islam, Mecca, and its second most sacred city, Medina, to Saudi Arabia's commercial hub Jeddah on the Red Sea coast.

Reported bidders include Germany's Siemens, which has teamed up with a Chinese consortium, as well as Alstom and South Korea's Samsung C&T. Five bid consortia have been pre-qualified.

A final decision is due at the end of the year, said Mellier. – Reuters