Tata Steel bags rail contract to link Saudi Arabia’s two holy cities

Tata Steel has won an order to manufacture 60,000 tonnes of high-quality rail for a new high-speed line linking the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The new railway will allow millions of pilgrims to cross the 276 miles (444km) between the two cities at speeds of 200mph (320kmh). The line will cross the desert, withstanding temperatures ranging from freezing to 50oC, as well as sandstorms, flash flooding and shifting dunes.

Steel for the project will be made at Tata Steel’s Scunthorpe plant before being rolled into rail in lengths of 25m both there and at the company’s plant in Hayange, Northern France. Work on producing the rail will start at the end of this year and is expected to continue throughout 2014. Tata Steel rail has already been used successfully in similarly challenging conditions for projects in Brazil and Mauritania.

Tata Steel, the flagship company of the Tata group is the first integrated steel plant in Asia and is now the world’s second most geographically diversified steel producer and a Fortune 500 Company.