Transport in Saudi Arabia

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This page lists various methods of transportation in Saudi Arabia.

Contents 1 Railways 2 Highways 3 Pipelines 4 Ports and harbors 4.1 Persian Gulf 4.2 Red Sea 5 Merchant marine 6 Airports 6.1 Airports - with paved runways 6.2 Airports - with unpaved runways 6.3 Heliports 7 References

[edit] Railways

Saudi Arabia has several hundred route kilometres of standard gauge railways linking the capital Riyadh with the Persian Gulf. In October 2006, tenders were called by the Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) to build a the new 440 km Makkah-Madinah Rail Link (MMRL).

In 2008, a Maglev Monorail was proposed to link the holy cities of Makkah with Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah.

[edit] Highways

total: 152,044 km
paved: 45,461 km
unpaved: 106,583 km (2000)

Highways in Saudi Arabia vary from eight laned roads to small two laned roads in rural areas. The city highways and other major highways are well maintained such as the roads in Riyadh. The roads are constructed so they resist the summer's high heat and do not reflect the strong sun. The outer city highways such as the one linking from coast to coast are not as great as the inner-city highways but the government is now working on rebuilding those roads.

Some of the important inter-city highways include[1]:
- Dammam - Abu Hadriya - Ras Tanura Highway (257 km)
- Khaybar - Al Ola Highway (175 km)
- Makkah - Madinah Al Munawarah Highway (421 km)
- Riyadh - Dammam Highway (383 km)
- Riyadh - Sedir - al Qasim Highway (317 km)
- Riyadh - Taif Highway (750 km)
- Taif - Abha-Gizan Highway (750 km)

[edit] Pipelines

condensate 212 km; gas 837 km; liquid petroleum gas 1,187 km; oil 5,062 km; refined products 69 km (2003). (See: Aramco)

[edit] Ports and harbors

[edit] Persian Gulf

• Dammam
• Jubail
• Ras Tanura
• Khafji
• Khobar

[edit] Red Sea

• Jeddah
• Yanbu' al Bahr
• Duba
• Rabigh
• Jizan
• Farasan (city)

[edit] Merchant marine

total: 66 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,306,706 GRT/1,963,191 metric tons of deadweight (DWT)
ships by type: cargo 5, chemical tanker 11, container 4, livestock carrier 2, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 23, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 10, short-sea/passenger 6 (2003)

[edit] Airports

204 (2003 est.)

Also see: List of airports in Saudi Arabia

[edit] Airports - with paved runways

total: 71
over 3,047 m: 32
2,438 to 3,047 m: 13
1,524 to 2,437 m: 12
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 2 (2003 est.)

[edit] Airports - with unpaved runways

total: 133
over 3047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m: 75
914 to 1,523 m: 38
under 914 m: 14 (2003 est.) (Saudi Arabian Airlines is the nation's flag carrier)

[edit] Heliports

5 (2003 est.)

[edit] References