RIYADH — Minister of Transport Saleh Al-Jasser said that the train service from the northern border city of Qurayyat will be operational in March 2022. In a statement on his Twitter account, the minister said that the car shipping service by trains will also be introduced for the first time in the Kingdom along with the launch of the Qurayyat train service. The works of repairing the affected areas of the rail roads have started, Al-Jasser said, adding that their implementation will be followed up in accordance with the highest safety and quality standards. The 1,242-km Riyadh-Qurayyat rail road, which begins from Qurayyat in the Kingdom’s northern border with Jordan, passes through Al-Jouf, Hail and Al-Qassim regions before terminating in Riyadh. The line shares infrastructure with the North-South Railway between Buraidah and Al-Nafud. There are six stations along the line — Riyadh, Majma"a, Qassim, Hail, Al-Jouf, and Qurayyat. The rail road was built at an estimated cost of SR20 billion. In March 2012, the Saudi Railway Organization (SRO) signed a contract worth SR553 million with CAF, an international train manufacturer and operator, to design and manufacture six 200km/h diesel push-pull trains. CAF handed over the first train to the Saudi Railway Company (SAR) in September 2015. A trial run was conducted on the line between Riyadh and Majmah in October 2016. Passenger services between Riyadh and Qassim began on Feb. 26, 2017.