Let me explain
The estimated 400km-plus line is expected to connect the port with the North-South Railway at the Al-Baseeta junction in Al-Jawf province. Bids are due on 29 October 2026; consultants expressed interest on 16 September. The Port of Neom has no rail link today, so cargo depends on road transport or a further sea leg. The North-South Railway is a 2,750km network built mainly to move minerals from the Al-Jalamid and Baitha phosphate and bauxite mines to Ras Al-Khair, Jubail and Dammam, with branch lines to Riyadh and to the Jordanian border at Al-Haditha, and it also carries passengers between Riyadh and Qurayyat. The link would give the port direct rail access to the interior, Jordan and the Gulf coast, and give the network a second maritime gateway on the Red Sea. The project is at the study stage: no route has been fixed and no contractor appointed (MEED, 30 September 2026).