ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) announced that it will start operating the first luxury train in Saudi Arabia at the end of 2025 which will cross the northern border of Saudi Arabia.
SAR and Italian hospitality company Arsenale Group recently signed a deal worth 200 million Saudi riyals for the launch of Dream of the Desert, a luxury train that will traverse the Arabian desert from Riyadh to Al Qurayat.
“The initial production phase of the Dream of the Desert carriage in Italy has recently begun, and we can’t wait for the debut of our first carriage in the kingdom in the next few years,” said Arsenale CEO, Paolo Barletta, in a statement, quoted Wednesday, 7 February 2024.
The 40-cabin train is being built in Italy, completely customized and inspired by Saudi style and traditions. It will then be delivered to the Middle Eastern Kingdom in summer 2025, with the first passenger journey scheduled for November 2025 and tickets going on sale late 2025.
Each train will have a maximum capacity of 80 passengers and will cover 1,300 kilometers of track, so guests can choose between spending one or two nights on board.
“This agreement is one of the initiatives of the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics Services to improve the quality of life and support the national leading strategy,” said SAR CEO, Bashar Al-Malik, saying that the luxury train will also add important tourism value.
Over the past few years, Saudi Arabia has increasingly invested in tourism, which is part of Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman’s ‘Vision 2030’.
It was a plan to diversify the country’s economy away from oil by attracting business and tourism. One of Saudi Vision’s efforts is to launch a new national airline in March 2023, Riyadh Air.
The ambition is to triple air traffic to 330 million passengers by the end of the decade.
Riyadh is also being transformed with several mega projects, all of which will be completed by 2030, when the capital will showcase the fruits of the Saudi Vision at World Expo 2030. (ATN)
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