Saudi Arabia orders over a thousand new railroad tanker cars

The U.S.-based railway manufacturer Greenbrier Companies Inc. has received an order from the government-owned Saudi Railway Company (SAR) for 1,200 railroad tank cars; Greenbrier will supply three types of tank cars that will support industrial mining operations at Saudi Arabia’s Wa’ad al Shamal Industrial City, and the tank cars will facilitate rail transportation of molten sulfur and phosphoric acid -- materials that are commonly used in a range of industrial activities.

Greenbrier will build the tank cars for SAR under U.S. supervision and management at its subsidiary in Poland. Track dimensions in Saudi Arabia are identical to those in the United States, and the tank cars will be built to U.S. standards on production lines certified by the Association of American Railroads.

Delivery of the first tank cars to SAR will begin in the second half of 2016 and will be completed in 2018.

Railcar demand is expected to grow in GCC countries as growing industries in the region will require heavier rail investments over the next decade.

Greenbrier’s CEO William A. Furman said the company is set to meet those demands.

“Our entry into Saudi Arabia’s railcar market is a great honor and a great responsibility as we participate with the Kingdom in one of its premier economic development and engineering projects at Wa’ad al Shamal City,” Furman said.

Furman said Greenbrier also plans to develop a skilled set of highly trained employees from Saudi Arabia to position the company to meet expected growth in the region’s railway car demand.