FCC, the Citizen Services Group, has achieved a new milestone in international construction. The company has been awarded one of the contracts to build the Riyadh metro (Saudi Arabia), which has an estimated budget of over 16.3 billion euro, i.e. 2.5 times the cost of the Medina-Mecca railway. This is the largest international contract in the history of construction in which a Spanish company has been awarded a contract. The consortium headed by FCC will build lines 4, 5 and 6 of the subway; the contract is worth 6.070 billion euro.

FCC's main consortium partners are Korean company Samsung and French company Alstom. The other members are Strukton (The Netherlands), Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, Typsa (Spain) and Setec (France). The project is to be executed in 5 years, and will employ 15,000 people.

The Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA) has awarded the FCC-led consortium one of three contracts to build the Riyadh metro, the longest subway system under development in the world (176 kilometres). The contract includes the design and construction of lines 4 (orange), 5 (yellow) and 6 (purple), which will have 25 stations. Construction will include 64.6 kilometres of rail track: 29.8 kilometres of viaducts, 26.6 kilometres of underground track, and 8.2 kilometres of overground track.

Juan Béjar, Vice-President and CEO of FCC: "This award accredits Spanish companies' international reputation in infrastructure, specifically that of FCC, whose references were decisive in successfully this contract". He added: "The Riyadh subway dovetails with FCC's new international strategy in construction, which is focused on infrastructure and on countries where we can best leverage our capabilities".

The Riyadh subway is one of the largest public works projects in the world at present. The process commenced in July 2012, when 37 consortia comprising world leaders in construction, rolling stock and railway systems presented expressions of interest. Only four of these candidates were pre-qualified: those headed by Siemens with Vinci, Bombardier with OHL, and Ansaldo with Strabag.

The consortium headed by FCC will use three tunnel boring machines (TBM) to build tunnels almost 10 metres in diameter for the three lines. These lines will use two-car conductorless trainsets supplied by Alstom. There will be four types of stations: elevated, ground level, underground and intermodal to connect with different lines.

The largest subway project in the world
The six lines comprising the Riyadh metro project will span more than 176 kilometres, making it the largest subway under development in the world at present. Construction will require 600,000 tonnes of steel (80 times the amount used to build the Eiffel Tower) and 4.3 million cubic metres of concrete (11 times the amount used for Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper), and will employ over 30,000 workers, of which more than half correspond to the consortium led by FCC.

This new metro will transform Riyadh, reducing traffic congestion, strengthening and driving the Saudi economy and improving living standards for citizens.

Riyadh currently has a population of 5.7 million, which is expected to increase to 8.3 million by 2030. The subway is a solution to daily traffic problems: of 7.4 million daily commutes, only 2% use public transport.

FCC in the Middle East
This contract strengthens FCC's presence in Saudi Arabia, where it has operated for more than two years via FCC Aqualia to optimise Riyadh's water supply network, which measures over 6,000 kilometres. This project has created 160 jobs and will improve the services provided to more than 3 million people.

This was the first water management contract granted to a Spanish company in the Middle East. FCC Aqualia landed another contract in this market some months later: operation and maintenance of the sewers and sewage treatment system in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

FCC also has offices in Qatar and Kuwait. In Qatar, it is currently building two pedestrian walkways as well as phase II of the Barzan camp housing development in Al Wajba, 15 kilometres from the capital city. It has also built other landmark projects in the zone, such as the Dubai Cricket Stadium.

Extensive international experience in subway construction
FCC already has extensive experience with building subway systems throughout the world The Group participated in the construction of the Lisbon Metro (Alameda-Expo section) and in the extension of line 2 of Athens Metro, which includes construction of two new stations (Periteri and Anthoupoli), and the Delhi Metro in India.

The company is currently building line 1 of the Panama metro, worth over 1 billion euro, the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) in Canada, which includes construction of the North tunnels and the Highway 407 Station and is worth 304 million euro, section 1 of Bucharest Metro's line 5 (Romania), for 267 million euro, the Malaga Metro, and Barcelona Metro line 8.

FCC also built extensions to Madrid Metro, including line 10, line 8 (Barajas-T4), and line 3 (from Legazpi to Villaverde), as well as sections I and III of Metrosur. In Barcelona, the company built several sections of Metro lines 2, 5 and 9.