Saudi Arabia’s capital marked a historic milestone this month with the launch of its first metro system – and it is already proving to be an instant success with 1.9 million passengers utilising the transport link in the first week of operations.
Riyadh Metro, which began operations on December 1, is a multi-billion-dollar project featuring six colour-coded lines spanning 176km with 85 stations, and has 183 trains manufactured by industry leaders Siemens, Bombardier and Alstom, establishing itself as the world’s longest driverless metro network.
The metro is designed to carry 1.2m passengers daily, with plans to scale up to 3.6m, helping to ease traffic jams and reduce reliance on cars, Al Arabiya reported.
On social networking site X, Riyadh Metro said of the 1.9m passengers who hopped aboard in the first week, the Purple Line has proved to be the most popular so far.
The metro aims to keep up with Riyadh’s growing population, which is expected to reach 15m to 20m by 2030, from 7.5m last year.
The Riyadh Metro is set to open in three phases. Among the first to partially launch are the Blue Line, spanning 38km, along with the Yellow and Purple Lines, running north to south through Downtown Riyadh. The Red and Green Lines are expected to commence operations by Sunday, while the Orange Line is planned to open by January 5.
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