RIYADH: The Saudi transport minister on Thursday inspected progress on major railway projects underway in Jubail Industrial City. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, who is also chairman of the Saudi Railway Co. (SAR), viewed bridge building work to take tracks across Saudi Aramco pipelines in the Eastern Province. The minister was accompanied by SAR CEO, Dr. Bashar Al-Malik, the company’s vice president for infrastructure, Khaled Sultan, and other rail officials and was given a detailed update on the project. During his visit, Al-Jasser met with Mustafa Al-Mahdi, the CEO of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, who gave a presentation on the industrial city. As well as inspecting railway bridge and crossing points he toured the loading and unloading station at the Sadara Chemical Complex and other track works taking place on the site, and also visited King Fahd Industrial Port and the Jubail Commercial Port to review rail and dock development programs. He pointed out that the railway construction projects being carried out by SAR in the Kingdom would link ports, provide improved transportation options for the Saudi industrial sector, and reduce the amount of freight moved on roads. Al-Jasser said that by creating a comprehensive rail network, SAR was contributing toward efforts to achieve Vision 2030 goals of boosting the Kingdom’s economic growth and competitiveness and becoming an international logistics center linking three continents.