A Webuild-led consortium involving India’s Larsen & Toubro, Saudi Arabia’s NESMA and France’s Alstom has won a contract to extend Riyadh Metro’s Red Line by 8.4km for the client, the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.

The company did not reveal the value of the contract.

The driverless, five-station line will run underground for 7.1km, requiring a tunnel boring machine; the remaining 1.3km of the line will be elevated on a viaduct.

Part of the project scope is to integrate the new section with the whole system of six driverless lines launched in Riyadh last December, covering 176km and earning the Red Line a Guinness World Record for longest driverless metro system.

The new section will add two more metro stations to King Saud University and will serve new developments in Riyadh including Diriyah Gate, a Unesco World Heritage site being developed as a cultural and tourist centre.

Webuild is currently building an underground parking complex for the Diriyah Gate development.