[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Riyadh Metro's Green Line tunneling work completed" ids="61441,61440,61439"] Mishal Al-Otaibi RIYADH Metro project took a giant leap forward on Wednesday night as tunneling work on its Line 5 (Green Line) was completed Wednesday evening during a visit to the project by Emir of Riyadh Prince Faisal Bin Bandar and Minister of Transport Suleiman Abdullah Al-Hamdan. Line 5 is one of the three lines being constructed by FAST Consortium — one of three international consortia commissioned to build the Riyadh Metro Project's six lines. Prince Faisal, who is also Chairman of the Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA), said: "We are proud of the accomplished works in Riyadh Rail System. Till now, 36 percent of the project has been accomplished. God willing, the project will be completed within the specified time, after two years and several months." "Riyadh Metro Rail Project is one of the pioneering national projects, which will have a clearly positive impact on the development of the city. The project will play a major role in attracting well-qualified and trained Saudis," he said. On arrival at the Green Line station site, the emir was briefed on the machinery and technologies used at the site. During the visit, the Emir went into the tunnel via a temporary lift to inspect it firsthand. The emir and other officials also were able to see Giant Tunnel Boring Machine (GTBM), known as San'ah, tunneling into the wall in the final section of the Green Line. Earlier, a second GTBM, known as Dhafrah, completed tunneling work on the southern part of Line 5. The completed and connected tunnel runs for a full 12.16 km from the north of Riyadh to the city center. The emir also toured one of the metro's trains, comprising two coaches, and was briefed on the internal and external designs. FAST Consortium is commissioned to build the Yellow, Green, and Purple lines — 33km of viaducts, 22k m of underground and 9 km of at-grade. The Green Line runs underground within a bored tunnel along King Abdulaziz Road, one of the main arteries running through Riyadh. The length of the line is 13 km and it features 11 deep underground stations, in addition to two transfer stations with the Red and Blue Lines. In addition to the announcement on the end of tunnel excavation work, a full-size mock-up of the Riyadh Metropolis trains manufactured by Alstom was also unveiled on Wednesday. The event also marks the kick-off of the construction by Alstom of the track works, an important milestone for the project. The works will commence within an at-grade section of the Yellow Line, and will be the first tracks to be installed throughout the Riyadh Metro project. In 2013, Alstom and its consortium FAST were awarded a contract to supply three metro lines totaling a length of approximately 64 km. Alstom is supplying a fully integrated metro system which includes: 69 Metropolis Trains, Urbalis signaling, the energy recovery system Hesop as well as tracks.
