The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) has announced the signing of a set of contracts for the purchase of 94 new trains, marking the first stage of plans to expand the Riyadh Metro fleet.

Forming part of early preparations to accommodate future growth; the purchase is also intended to help the Commission keep pace with the capital’s wider needs and development over the coming years, as well as expand the network’s destinations ahead of major global events – such as Expo 2030 Riyadh and the FIFA World Cup 2034.

The new trains will aid in plans for an overall capacity expansion

© RCRC

The purchase will increase the number of trains on the network from 183 to 277, with deliveries scheduled to begin in batches in 2028. They will increase Riyadh Metro’s overall network capacity by 60%, with additional capacity allocated to each line according to both ridership and expected demand.

Capacity will rise by 142% on the Red Line, 116% on the Yellow Line, 60% on the Blue Line, 27% on the Orange Line, and 16% on the Purple Line, moving the network closer to the originally intended capacity from its initial design plans.

The fleet expansion itself comes amid the Riyadh Metro network’s continued growth, which has seen passenger numbers surpass 300 million since the beginning of operations, and the average number of passengers from January to September 2026 rise by roughly 25% when compared to the same period in 2025.

All fleet-expansion contracts will be carried out by both Siemens and Alstom, and hold a total value of almost 5.5 billion SAR. The contracts cover an integrated scope of project-related works and services, including train and system manufacturing and fitting out.

The trains will be delivered in line with the manufacturing stages before undergoing testing and operational trials before gradually being brought into service as each batch is completed.

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