History
The first railway in modern Saudi Arabia was the Hejaz railway, from the border of Jordan to Medina. This 1,050 mm (3 ft 5 1⁄3 in) narrow gauge railway opened in 1908, but was shut down in 1915.
Modern railways were introduced in Saudi Arabia after World War II, to facilitate the transport of goods to ARAMCO (Now Saudi Aramco) from ports located on the coast of the Persian Gulf to warehouses in Dhahran. Construction started in October 1947 and the first line was inaugurated on October 20, 1951. It was initially run by Aramco, but subsequently transferred to the state and since 1968 has been operated as a public corporation. Several development projects have been completed since then, including an extension of the line to Riyadh, construction of several passenger terminals and the opening of a dry port in Riyadh.
Read more about this topic: Saudi Railways Organization
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