- [Narrator] This is one of
the largest metro projects in the world. Spanning 109 miles across a desert city, the $22.5 billion Riyadh Metro is an incredible feat of engineering. But this is more than just a mega-project. - It's also about image building and showing that the country
is progressive, it is modern. - [Narrator] For the last decade, Saudi Arabia has been investing billions of its oil revenues into
engineering a legacy that will outlive the man on the throne. Now the country is gearing up
to host two huge world events, both of which would bring money, tourism, and political clout. It's a golden opportunity for the kingdom in its quest to transform its economy and improve its human rights
reputation on the world stage. It also turns up the pressure to complete this massive
infrastructure project that's already years behind schedule. This is Saudi Arabia's
race to finish the railway that could open its doors to the world. (gentle inspiring music) This is the Riyadh Metro Network, six lines, 85 stations, and 109 miles of new track stretching
across a city built on sand. Most cities build something of this scale in a number of phases
over a number of decades. But Saudi Arabia is turning
these flashy renderings into reality in just
one phase, making it one of the world's largest
single phase metro projects. That's because Riyadh is
a city with big ambitions. - It's really remarkable
the transformation that happened over 30 years or so. The physical environment has changed, the social structure has changed, and it's just a very different atmosphere, a very different vibe. - [Narrator] In the 70s, the city used the country's oil profits
to expand its infrastructure around the automobile. Riyadh has gone through
some big changes since then. Its urban environment has expanded as the population has grown
nearly 20 times larger. Women were granted the right to drive and international tourists can now visit. Much like in the rest of the Gulf, the city still has a strong
car culture, thanks in part to how hot it is to
actually walk anywhere. But if you're looking even
further to the future, car-centric cities aren't really at the forefront of innovation. A new electric driverless
public transit system, now, that's a forward-thinking investment. The Riyadh Metro has been in
the works for over a decade, and it's helping the kingdom
set some very big goals. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to make the capital city an
international business hub, which would double its population by 2030. But the world is still
wary of the kingdom, which has spent decades in isolation and has been condemned for
its human rights violations. If the country wants a chance
to turbocharge its growth and reshape its international image, hosting a massive world event is a pretty good place to start. Saudi Arabia has been elected
to host World Expo 2030, which will welcome tens of millions of tourists from more than 100 countries. It's also the front runner
to host the 2034 World Cup. Both events will put Riyadh at the center of billions of dollars
in construction projects like this new stadium
proposal for Qiddiya City, which is envisioned to be Saudi Arabia's new entertainment hub. - When you look at all
the other mega-projects that are ongoing in Riyadh
right now, they are not going to make sense whatsoever if there is no transportation network linking
these developments together. So it's a crucial element
in Saudi's vision 2030 to have the metro actually
opening very soon. - [Narrator] Constructing
something of this scale is challenging enough, but
doing it all in the desert makes things even tougher. - It's a harsh desert climate. You would have to take into consideration the effect of heat, the
effect of sandstorms, and also in the winter it
can get quite cold as well. You would have to select proper materials that can withstand the effect of these fluctuating temperatures. - [Narrator] On the Riyadh
Metro, the train cars had to be specially designed to account for the extreme high
temperatures and sand. Contractors had to adapt
the way they stored concrete outside because it was so hot
that the top layer started to dry before they could pour it. Three massive tunnel boring
machines were used to drill and excavate 40% of the route,
which runs beneath the city, weaving around existing building
foundations and utilities, and there's a law that bans some laborers from working certain hours
in the middle of the day when the temperatures
are dangerously high. But the physical environment
wasn't the only challenge. The former governor of Riyadh was arrested in the Crown Prince's 2017 crackdown for alleged corruption in
the Riyadh Metro Project. The 2020 pandemic caused
supply chain disruptions across the industry, and in 2021, some of the main
contractors on the project sent some staff home, over a more than $1
billion payment dispute. Delays on infrastructure projects are pretty common around the world. It famously took New York
City nearly 100 years from the time it was proposed to actually finish the
Second Avenue subway. The Riyadh Metro was
originally set to open in 2019, just five years after construction began. Now the Royal Commission
for Riyadh City expects to announce the opening
date of the metro soon. But on a project like this, time is money, and Saudi Arabia has a lot of money. For the last few years, the
country's national oil company has made more than $100 billion
in net profits every year. A lot of that money is funneled
into the country's public investment fund, which is
essentially a giant pot of money that the country uses to pay for mega-projects like the Metro. - I think Riyadh is offering
a different approach in a sense that it is not entirely reliant on investment from outsiders. In Dubai, a large portion of
its growth can be attributed to external actors investing in the city. Riyadh and Saudi Arabia
does not need that. - [Narrator] Most of the
Riyadh Metro's contracts were signed back in 2013. That meant architecture, engineering, and construction companies all
over the world were competing for a slice of the $22.5 billion budget. In the end, more than 30
international and local firms and many more suppliers and subcontractors were selected to work on the project. Among those chosen ones were some very high profile companies
like Zaha Hadid Architects. - Well, architecture has
historically always been associated with power, and there is
a sort of a gravitation by architects to have projects
and to enlist clients, and clearly governments and
various state institutions are the ones who have the
means to provide that. - [Narrator] At this point in history, a lot of big budget architecture
and construction projects are being commissioned
by oil-rich Gulf states. While locals do stand to
benefit from some mega-projects, there's another potential payoff as well. International tourism
and reputation building. - There is a downside of course,
because sometimes projects like that can be a way
for autocratic regimes to mask human rights abuses. - [Narrator] In neighboring country Qatar, the 2022 World Cup brought a new level of global scrutiny on labor
practices in the region. Thousands of migrant
workers have reportedly died in the country in the past decade, though not all related to the World Cup. FIFA and Qatar's World Cup
Organizing Committee have said there were three work-related
deaths on World Cup stadiums. Like many countries around the world, Saudi Arabia relies on
migrant construction labor. Human rights experts are concerned about the potential exploitation
of a power imbalance and risks around heat
stress, debt bondage, and general construction site safety. The Royal Commission for
Riyadh City didn't respond to our request for comment on how it's approached labor protections on the Riyadh Metro Project. Despite its promotional
videos, the Riyadh Metro isn't as glitzy as Saudi Arabia's
newer projects like Neom, a futuristic city in the desert. But it is the backbone
of a much bigger vision to re-engineer the country's future. Once the metro finally opens, Riyadh will face its next challenge, getting Saudis to ditch their cars and actually use the train. - Whether that will actually
transpire remains to be seen, but definitely the underlying framework, the infrastructure is
there for that to happen. (gentle inspiring music)
