Saudi Arabia has completed and started trial runs on its 1,392 kilometer railway to transport phosphate and bauxite to its Gulf coast in the east, the kingdom's state news agency said on Tuesday.

Saudi Railway Company (SAR) built the railway linking phosphate mines at al-Jalamaid and a bauxite mine at Az-Zabirah to processing facilities at the industrial hub Raz Azzour on the Gulf coast.

'The firm has started trial operations on the railway by transporting its first shipment of phosphate from the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) in al-Jalamid through special carriages on the railway which it emptied in Ras Azzour,' the statement said.

The kingdom said last year the railway would be completed by the end of end of 2010.

Saudi Arabia is also constructing a high-speed railway in the Western region, linking Islam's holiest cities Mecca and Medina to the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah, a key entry point for millions of pilgrims, and to King Abdullah Economic City, currently under construction. – Reuters