Saudi Railways plans 20 new trains for Eastern Line capacity boost

Saudi Railways plans to add 20 passenger trains to its Eastern Line, the route linking Riyadh and Dammam via Al-Ahsa and Abqaiq. The company says the first 10 are due to arrive in 2028 and enter service the following year, lifting annual seat capacity to about 3.8 million. Once all 20 are operating, capacity is projected to reach roughly 6 million seats a year, while the fleet grows from 11 trains today to 31. That figure means seats offered across all trips rather than individual passengers, so the expansion is mainly about providing more frequent services and more available seats on a busy existing corridor.