{
  "id": 15584601,
  "title": "Saudi railway passenger numbers surge 266.5% to 156.4 million in 2025",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/saudi-railway-passenger-numbers-surge-266-5-to-156-4-million-in-2025",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-19T08:02:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Saudi Gazette",
    "slug": "saudi-gazette",
    "url": "https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/665545/saudi-arabia/saudi-railway-passenger-numbers-surge-2665-to-1564-million-in-2025"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Saudi Arabia's railway passenger numbers surged dramatically by 266.5 percent in 2025, reaching approximately 156.4 million passengers, according to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). This marked a substantial increase from 42.7 million passengers in 2024. Intra-city railway passengers saw the most significant growth, soaring by 368 percent to 145.4 million passengers, up from 31.1 million in 2024. Conversely, intercity railway passengers experienced a slight decline of 5.6 percent, falling to 10.9 million passengers from 11.6 million the previous year. Passenger train operations reached their peak in December, with about 15.9 million passengers, while April saw the lowest monthly count at 10.8 million. The Riyadh Metro transported 949,400 passengers, covering a total distance of 26.8 million kilometers. The Haramain High Speed Railway dominated passenger transport, accounting for 76 percent of the performance, with 2,743 million passenger-kilometers, despite a 6.1 percent decline compared to 2024. The East Train and North Train also saw growth, with 496 million and 370 million passenger-kilometers, respectively, up by 8.3 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively. Overall railway passenger transport performance declined by 3.1 percent to 3,609.3 million passenger-kilometers in 2025, compared to 3,724.3 million in the previous year.",
  "summary": "RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s railway passenger numbers surged by 266.5 percent to approximately 156.4 million in 2025, compared with 42.7 million in 2024, according to the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). The authority’s Railway Transport Statistics 2025 showed that intracity railway passengers increased by 368 percent to 145.4 million, up from 31.1 million in 2024. Meanwhile, intercity…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}