THE Princess Noura Bint Abdul Rahman University has awarded Hitachi a €72.5m contract to operate and maintain the autonomous metro system within its campus in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the next three years.

The rail network consists of four elevated lines spanning 11.5km, connecting 14 stations. The 22 two-car 60km/h autonomous metro trains each have a capacity for 110 passengers.

Hitachi will operate the whole system as well as maintain the trains and infrastructure, including the stations, mechanical and electrical systems, the depot and viaduct. An Ansaldo STS-led consortium built the metro, which opened in August 2012 and it is based on similar technology used in Copenhagen, Brescia, Milan Line 5 and Honolulu. Hitachi acquired Ansaldo STS and AnsaldoBreda, which supplied the trains, in 2015.

Hitachi has operated and maintained the railway since March 2018.

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