Transport in Saudi Arabia is facilitated through a relatively young system of roads, railways and seaways. Most of the network started construction after the discovery of oil in the Eastern Province in 1952, with the notable exception of Highway 40, which was built to connect the capital Riyadh to the economically productive Eastern Province, and later to the Islamic holy city of Mecca and the port city of Jeddah. With the economic growth of the 1970s, of Saudi Arabia has initiated many infrastructure development projects across the country, and the extensive development of the transportation network has followed suit in support of various economic developments.
Roads
History and overview In 1921, King Abdulaziz introduced the first car in Saudi Arabia. However, by the time the Kingdom was established in 1932, there were still less than of paved roadways in the country. Cars eventually supplanted camels as the main mode of transport in the Kingdom in the 1950s, with a major uptick in car ownership occurring in the 1970s. The roads of Saudi Arabia gradually became the defining feature of the kingdom's transport system as the main population centres are not only scattered all over the country but also because they faced a major challenge from the geography of the country itself; separated by deserts, valleys and mountains, among other landforms. Due to this, a reliable road network became more important and essential than other modes of transport in the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia had encouraged road transport in the past by maintaining one of the lowest petrol prices in the world. Despite raising prices in 2018, it is worth noting that due to limited alternative passenger transport options in the country, the gasoline fuel demand is relatively inelastic to its prices; light-duty vehicles dominate the passenger transport landscape. Buses and other public transport options are limited, and walking or bicycles are hindered by the urban landscapes and harsh weather in most regions of the country.
The development of the Saudi road network can be divided into two major phases; i.e. the expansion of the modern road network from 1938 to 1970, preceding the initial development plans conceived by the Ministry of Transport and Logistic Services, and the development and expansion after the introduction of the plans (after 1970). The two stages, pre-national planning and postnational planning, relate to the historical circumstances of the economic, political and social demands of the kingdom. The activity during the second stage greatly exceeds that during the first owing to the existence of coordinated plans, high investment and concentration of effort.
Highway network The Ministry of Transport and Logistic Services in 2014 maintained a total estimated road length of 627,000 km, of which 151,000 km were highways linking major regions of Saudi Arabia with international borders and serving as interconnecting roads between the major Saudi Arabian cities; 102,000 km were secondary roads linking major cities with other smaller cities in their respective provinces; 374,000 km were feeder roads branching out of secondary roads and serving towns, villages & agricultural areas. Another 204,000 km of roads was under construction by the end of fiscal year 2014. The Ministry of Transport and Logistic Services maintains 151,000 km of major roads linking the major Saudi Arabian cities and the kingdom to its neighbors. +Major highways of Saudi ArabiaSaudi highway networkMashreq networkSouthern or western terminusNorthern or eastern terminusMap Highway 5 M55Road 45 at Yemeni border in TuwalHighway 15/Highway 65 at Jordanian border in Durra Highway 10 M90Highway 5 in Al DarbE11 at Emirati border in Batha' Highway 15 M45S150 at Yemeni border in Al Wadi'ahHighway 5 at Jordanian border in Halat 'Ammar Highway 40 M80Highway 5 in JeddahRoute 613 in Dammam Highway 50 M70 from ArtawiyahHighway 40 in DhalmM70 at Kuwaiti border in Ruqa'i Highway 60 M70Highway 5 near YanbuHighway 50 in Artawiyah Highway 65 M35Highway 10 in Hotat Bani TamimHighway 30 at Jordanian border in Qurayyat Highway 70Route 375 in AlUlaHighway 6262 in Linah Highway 75Route 180 in Al KharkhirHighway 95 near Tanajib Highway 80 M50Highway 5 in DubaRoad 22 at Iraqi border in 'Arar Highway 85 M25Highway 65 in QurayyatHighway 95 near Jubail Highway 95 M5E11 at Emirati border in Batha'Road 40 at Kuwaiti border in KhafjiSource(s):Note(s):
Highway number(s) in bold indicate that the route is not part of the Saudi highway network.
Most of these highways are two-lane highways, and some of them are not separated by median strips. The Ministry of Transport has been working on a project to gradually modernize these roads. Highway 10 currently holds the record for world's longest straight road, with the section from Haradh to the Batha' border with UAE cutting through the Rub' al-Khali desert, beating the previous record holder, Australia's Eyre Highway, by . On 19 February 2018, the speed limit on sections of Highway 5, Highway 15, Highway 40 and Highway 65 was increased from 120 km/h (75 mph) to 140 km/h (87 mph).
Rail
History and overview
The first railway line in the kingdom predates the unification of Saudi Arabia. The 1,050 mm (3 ft 511⁄32 in) narrow-gauge Hejaz railway, that ran from Damascus to Medina, began construction in 1900 under the Ottoman Empire Hejaz Vilayet, and was completed in 1908. A proposal to further extend the line to Mecca was made, but was never materialized. The southern portion of the line was mostly destroyed during the World War I. A few sections of the track remain, with some sections in Jordan being used up to today. The stations in Mada'in Salih and Medina have been converted into museums (Hejaz Railway Museum and Mada'in Salih Railway Station), each having some locomotives and rolling stock from the original railway.
The first railway line built and completed under Saudi rule was the Dammam-Riyadh line, which began construction in 1947. It was inaugurated on October 20, 1951, by King Abdulaziz. This was before the formation of the Saudi Railways Organization (SRO), and the railway line was run and maintained by Saudi Aramco, before being entrusted to the Ministry of Finance. On May 13, 1966, a royal decree established the SRO, a public corporation that now runs the line. The main railway stations for passengers opened in Riyadh, Dammam, and Hofuf in 1981. The modern passenger line between Riyadh and Dammam measuring was completed in 1985.
The other conventional railway line in the kingdom is the North–South line, also known as the Riyadh–Qurayyat line, which runs from the capital Riyadh to border with Jordan at Hadithah via Buraidah, Ḥaʼil and Qurayyat, with feeder lines to multiple phosphate mining and bauxite mining locations in the northern parts of the kingdom. The largest feeder line connects the main line to the port city of Ra's Al-Khair, near Jubail, giving the line a total length of more than . The only high-speed railway line in the kingdom, the Haramain High Speed Railway, was completed in 2017, and connects the two Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina via the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and the King Abdullah Economic City near Rabigh.
Detail The historic 1,300 km (810 mi) 1,035 mm (3 ft 511⁄32 in) narrow-gauge Ottoman Hejaz railway was mostly destroyed during World War I and its stations in Mada'in Salih and Medina have been converted to museums. Within two decades of the unification of Saudi Arabia, the first Dammam–Riyadh line was completed in 1951, and was long. This line was later converted to only be used for freight transport, with a new, shorter, line being completed in 1985, exclusively for the transport of passengers. The other passenger line in the kingdom is the Riyadh–Qurayyat line, which runs through the middle of the country connecting the capital Riyadh to Ha'il, Al-Majma'ah, the Al-Jawf Province and Jordan via Qurayyat. It is the longest line in the Saudi rail network, and with a feeder line connecting it to the port of Ra's al-Khair, its total length comes up to around 2,750 km (1,710 mi). The North–South line uses portions of the Riyadh–Qurayyat line and connects the main line to phosphate and bauxite mining locations in the northern reaches of the kingdom.
Apart from mass transit systems such as metros, the only high-speed railway line in the kingdom is the Haramain High Speed Railway, construction of which was completed in 2017. The line is 453 km (281 mi) long and connects the two Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina via the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and the King Abdullah Economic City.
Air
Saudi Arabia is served by three major international airports: the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, and the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, which is also the largest airport in the world by area. In addition to these three major airports, several smaller airports, providing both domestic and international connections, are present throughout the kingdom, such as the Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Medina and the Taif International Airport in Taif among others.
The Saudi Arabian flag carrier, Saudia, began operations in 1945 with a single twin-engine Douglas DC-3 Dakota gifted by President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt. Today, the airline operates a fleet of over 140 aircraft, transporting more than 34 million passengers annually to 95 destinations worldwide. In 2023, Riyadh Air was established as the country's second flag carrier.
Saudi Arabia is also served by several low-cost airlines, including Flynas and Flyadeal. In addition to these public carriers, Saudi Aramco operates its own private airline, Saudi Aramco Aviation, which manages a fleet of seven aircraft and multiple helicopters. The company maintains its own terminals at various locations and uses the airline primarily to transport employees to remote sites such as Shaybah, Yanbu, and Tanajib.
+Airports of Saudi Arabia, by runway length (2003 est.)Airports with paved runwaysRunway lengthNumber of airportsover 32 to 13 to 12 to 2under 2Total61Airports with unpaved runwaysRunway lengthNumber of airportsover 6 to 5 to 75 to 38under 14Total138Heliports (2009 est.)9 In 2019, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) launched the first commercial helicopter that will serve to transport customers within the major Saudi cities and to take them to different tourism destinations.
In 2019 Saudi Arabia had 103 million air passengers.
Ports and waterways
History and overview Historically, the area that is now Saudi Arabia was situated close to one end of the Silk Road, and the ports here made the many tribes in the region wealthy as they profited off the spice trade. Saudi Arabia is one of several countries without any rivers, however there are several wadis spread throughout the country that fill up during the rainy season of winter. However, due to their unstable nature, they are neither classified nor used as waterways. The Jeddah Islamic Port was the main gateway to pilgrims making the journey to the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina before the advent of jet aircraft, and is said to have been given that status by the third Rashidun caliph, Uthman. One of the first ports built under the kingdom was located in Khobar, and was used to transport petroleum to Bahrain. The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) was founded in 1976 as a government agency to oversee and maintain the kingdom's ports, and it currently maintains nine ports throughout the kingdom. Several other ports are not maintained by Mawani but by other entities, such as the King Abdullah Port in the King Abdullah Economic City near Rabigh.
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