News & Analysis

From Camels, The Saudi-Qatari Beduoins Jump On High-speed Trains In The Desert

Ayman Ahmed

Rajab 12, 14472026-01-01

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Connectivity between countries in West Asia should always be welcomed. After all, barriers, especially between neighbours, do not help them and are exploited by hostile powers.

Thus, when it was announced last month that Saudi Arabia and Qatar have agreed to build a 785-kilometer high-speed electric train, it was greeted with applause. The railway line will run between Riyadh and Doha.

It is expected to be completed in six years. The line will directly link King Salman International Airport in Riyadh with Hamad International Airport in Doha. The aim is to integrate long-distance rail travel with international air hubs.

According to an official handout by the Saudi regime, the system is designed to operate at speeds of up to 300 kms per hour.

Comparisons have been made with the high speed trains running between Makkah and al-Madinah. They have cut travel time between the two holy cities considerably and cater to the needs of tens of millions of pilgrims annually.

The proposed railway link is expected to cut travel time between the two capitals to roughly two hours. There will be two stops along the way: at Hofuf and Dammam.

So far so good, although major challenges lie ahead. The extreme desert heat—temperatures can soar up to 50 degrees Celsius, or 122 degrees Fahrenheit—and sand storms can hamper both construction and travel.

When the announcement was first made, it was claimed that local companies will do much of the work. Reading the details carefully, it became clear that what they meant was physical labour. Most of it will comprise foreigners, especially labourers from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. These poor people will be forced to work in extreme heat and live in squalid camps. As is the norm, they will be paid a pittance.

Track design, barriers to prevent sand blocking it, the electric grid and all the engines and carriages will be supplied by foreign companies. One can expect American and European companies to make a tidy profit. Chinese companies would be cheaper but the Beduoins want to remain in the good books of westerners, especially the Americans for survival.

It is, however, the projected passenger flow—10 million a year—that may be difficult to achieve. Qatar has a tiny population of only one million. The Saudis are 28 million but will they be rushing to visit Doha? And if so, how frequently? Their favourite destinations are Europe and America.

Projects of this nature are usually launched accompanied by announcement of grand objectives. Realizing them, however, is a different matter.

Planners say the line is intended to reshape regional mobility rather than simply shorten travel times. In addition to unrealistic ridership numbers of more than 10 million passengers annually, officials involved in planning say it will create about 30,000 jobs.

Equally fantastic is the forecast that once completed, the project will generate an economic impact of approximately $30 billion for the combined Saudi and Qatari economies. For comparison, the current annual trade between the two countries is $930 million. There is little that they can trade with each other. Both countries produce oil and gas. These are exported out of the region.

Both countries have launched ambitious projects to set up Artificial Intelligence (AI) hubs and cyber security platforms. American companies are involved in supplying these services.

And then there is the fickle nature of the Beduoins. In June 2017, Saudi Arabia led a boycott campaign of Qatar imposing sanctions. The Bani Saud issued a laundry list of demands for the Qataris to fulfill, including shutting down Al-Jazeera. Qatar would have been badly affected especially in food had it not been for timely help from Iran and Turkey.

After four years of Saudi-led siege that was also joined by the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, the Saudis made a grand retreat. On January 3, 2021, the Qatari Emir Shaykh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani was invited to Al-Ula summit in Saudi Arabia. He was welcomed at the steps of the plane by none other than Mohammad bin Salman (MbS), the de facto Saudi ruler and architect of the boycott.

From cursing and biting each other’s noses, they were back to rubbing them in typical Beduoin fashion. It cannot be ruled out that MbS may hit another tantrum on some minor issue in the future and go back to old enmity with the Qataris.

The two countries also have a long-simmering border dispute that has been kept in check but it can resurface. And then there is the presence of 10,000 Turkish troops in Qatar that the Saudis view with suspicion.

That the two countries also host American military bases reflects their dependence on and subservience to the US. Qatar’s Al-Udeid air base is the largest American base in the region with some 10,000 troops. It has been used to launch attacks against Islamic Iran, Iraq and Yemen. The Saudis host thousands of American soldiers at Sultan Air base.

Back to the Riyadh-Doha high speed rail connection. It has been referred to as reviving the old Hijaz Railway. That was built by the Ottomans when they were in control of the region. The Turks were forced out of the Arabian Peninsula through British colonial intrigue.

The Arabian tribal chiefs were told that the Turks are not Arabs—true—but nor were the British. And they are not even Muslim. For the Saudi Beduoins, the non-Muslim Brits were preferrable to Muslim Turks. The Hijaz Railway was destroyed by the Saudi Beduoins with help from T. E. Lawrence, a British spy tasked with undermining Turkish rule in the Hijaz.

Saudi-Qatari claims about connectivity should be treated with caution.

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