Due to significant revenues from oil production, Saudi Arabia can afford to invest considerable resources in the development of the transport network, which has been actively developing in recent decades. To date, Saudi Arabia has the following modes of transport:
- road;
- public;
- aviation;
- railway;
- nautical.
Let us dwell a little more on each of them and consider the peculiarities of the variants of movement around the country.
Due to significant revenues from oil production, Saudi Arabia can afford to invest considerable resources in the development of the transport network, which has been actively developing in recent decades. To date, Saudi Arabia has the following modes of transport:
- road;
- public;
- aviation;
- railway;
- nautical.
Let us dwell a little more on each of them and consider the peculiarities of the variants of movement around the country.
Motor transport
In Saudi Arabia, a right-hand traffic (left-hand drive) is installed. This is the only country in the world where women are still prohibited from driving a car (permission will come into force only in June 2018), and also ride bicycles.
According to 2006 data, the total length of roads in the country was more than 220 thousand km, including 47,5 thousand km - highways with asphalt pavement. In large cities, for example, in Riyadh , you can find eight-lane highways, and in small settlements there are mostly narrow ground roads. The most important routes in Saudi Arabia connect Riyadh with Ed Dammam, El Qasim, Taif, Mecca with Medina and Jeddah, Jizad with Taif and Jeddah.
A distinctive feature of Saudi Arabia is the lowest worldwide price of gasoline ($ 0.13 per 1 liter). In this connection, motor transport in the country is very attractive.
Car rent
In order to rent a car in Saudi Arabia, you need to be a man over 21, have an international driving license and a bank card.
Public transport
The most popular type of intercity public transport in Saudi Arabia is buses. Routes of the local bus company SAPTCO connect all the largest and most important cities in the country. It should be noted that the buses here are modern and very comfortable, equipped with air conditioning, but moving to them is not the fastest way to get to the right place.
If you want to reach comfort in any place in Saudi Arabia, you can take a taxi. Among the carriers there are both official taxi services and private ones. In the first prices are usually much higher.
Aviation transport
There are 3 international airports in the country. They are located in the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. The national carrier of Saudi Arabian Airlines represents a large network of domestic airlines. The company's liners are in excellent condition and are serviced according to high European standards. Most of the international flights are carried out through the capital of the country - Riyadh. From domestic flights, the most popular are flights between the cities of Riyadh, Ed Dammam, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk . Depending on the direction of the price of tickets vary from $ 120 to $ 150 one way.
Railway transport
Unlike its neighbors in the Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia boasts a railway connection. At the same time, it should be noted that the network of railways is still not sufficiently developed and represents several hundred kilometers of railroad tracks from Riyadh to the ports of the Persian Gulf. Passenger traffic is currently carried out only along the route Riyad-Dammam, through the cities of Harad and Al-Khufuf . Trains have a high level of service, tickets can be purchased at stations.
New railway sections are being actively built in Abu-Ajram and Mecca, as well as between Mecca and Medina via Jeddah.
Water transport
The presence of a developed infrastructure for shipping in the country is also conditioned by the export of oil from Saudi Arabia. Seaports are operated by the Saudi Ports Authority. They are located on the coast of the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. The most important ports in Saudi Arabia are Ed Dammam and El Jubail in the Persian Gulf, Jeddah and Yanbu el Bahr in the Red Sea.