1.9M passengers use Riyadh Metro in its 1st week: RCRC CEO

Ibrahim Al-Sultan, Minister of State, Member of the Council of Ministers

Riyadh Metro carried 1.9 million passengers in the first week of operations, with the Purple Line coming from the city’s east witnessing high demand, Ibrahim Al-Sultan, Minister of State, Member of the Council of Ministers and CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC), told reporters in an interview.

This high demand has urged train interval reduction, according to Al-Sultan.

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KAFD Metro Station received 370,000 passengers, he noted, adding that the metro project’s total capacity is up to 3.6 million passengers.

The national project, employing more than 65,000 people from different nationalities, was implemented through three consortiums, represented by 19 companies from nearly 13 different countries.

Its built-up area reached 4.5 million cubic meters, with an annual electricity consumption of 468 megawatts, the minister also indicated.

Al-Sultan explained that the project faced challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic amid supply-chain disruptions.

However, thanks to the efforts of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who managed to address and mitigate all issues, the project was delivered on time.

The minister revealed future plans to expand the Riyadh Metro project to cater to the eastern and western areas of the capital city.

Meanwhile, he stated that the recently-launched bus project, which consists of 800 buses operating via 80 routes, shall complement Riyadh Metro.

The bus project has transported about 43 million passengers since its launch. It features 19 parking lots at each terminal station, which will be expanded in the future.

Additionally, as many as 120 on-demand minibuses will start operating as of next January. This is to ensure the cheap commuting of passengers from the first mile to the metro line and vise versa.