Riyadh ready to launch metro expansion

• Work to start on first phase of line 7
• Runs from Diriyah to Qiddiya
• Will also connect to airport

Saudi Arabia is preparing to begin work on the first phase of its seventh Riyadh Metro line in 2026, as it accelerates investment in public transport to support rapid urban growth and flagship giga-projects.

Line 7 will run from the Diriyah Gate development in the north of the capital to the Qiddiya entertainment project in southwest Riyadh, Saudi minister of media Salman Al Dossary said this week. 

The expansion will build on Riyadh Metro’s position as the world’s largest fully driverless transit system. The metro has carried around 120 million passengers since its 2025 launch, with an on-time performance rate of 99.8 percent, according to Al Dossary.

About 18 percent of Riyadh’s residents – approximately 1.5 million people – already live within a 15-minute walk of a metro station, a study by property consultancy Knight Frank said. 

That compares with 13 percent in Dubai, despite the UAE city operating a metro system for more than 15 years.

Residences in Riyadh now cost around SAR19 ($5) more per square metre for every 100 metres closer they are to a station, the report revealed. 

“The direct correlation between house prices and proximity to metro stations that we found is consistent with the effect seen in other major cities around the world, reinforcing the conclusion that metro accessibility is a key determinant of real estate value,” Harmen de Jong, Knight Frank Mena’s head of consulting, previously told AGBI. 

• Investors rush to the right side of Riyadh’s metro tracks
• ‘Metro premium’ pushes up Riyadh house prices
• Saudi Arabia giga-projects tracker

Line 7 is expected to extend approximately 65 kilometres and will play an important role in connecting several of Saudi Arabia’s most ambitious developments. 

In addition to linking Diriyah Gate and Qiddiya, the line is planned to connect King Salman Park, the New Murabba downtown development and the expanded King Salman International Airport.

Alstom, the French company that provides rolling stock and systems for four of the six operational metro lines, plans to add another 150 carriages to the 320 already in use.