145.4 million train passengers within Saudi cities in 2025

The number of train passengers within cities in Saudi Arabia increased by 368 percent during the year 2025, reaching 145.4 million passengers, compared to 31.1 million passengers in 2024, according to railway transport statistics, issued by the General Authority for Statistics.

The total number of train passengers within and between cities increased to about 156.4 million passengers, compared to 42.7 million passengers in the previous year, an increase of 266.5 percent.

On the other hand, the number of passengers on intercity trains decreased by 5.6 percent to 10.9 million passengers, compared to 11.6 million passengers in 2024.

On a monthly basis, total passengers recorded their lowest levels in April at 10.8 million passengers, while reaching their highest levels in December at 15.9 million passengers.

Regarding passenger transport performance, total traffic reached 3.61 billion passenger-kilometres in 2025, a decrease of 3.1 percent, compared to 3.72 billion passenger-kilometres in the previous year.

The Haramain Express train accounted for 76 percent of the total performance, recording 2.74 billion passenger-kilometres, despite a decline of 6.1 percent.

In contrast, the performance of the East Train increased by 8.3 percent to 496 million passenger-km, and the North Train by 6.9 percent to 370 million passenger-km.

High freight and freight transportation

The performance of freight transport by rail increased by 3.6 percent during 2025, reaching about 17 billion tons-kilometres, compared to 16.43 billion tons-kilometres in 2024, while the quantities of freight transported reached 16.1 million tons, compared to 15.6 million tons in the previous year.

The Northern Railway accounted for 96.3 percent of the total freight transport performance, recording 16.37 billion ton-kilometres, an increase of 3.3 percent year on year. It also transported 14.4 million tons of goods, representing 89.7 percent of the total cargo quantities during the year.

The Northern Train shipments were distributed between 5.1 million tons of phosphate, 5 million tons of bauxite, 2.6 million tons of phosphoric acid, and 1.7 million tons of molten sulfur.

The train recorded the highest monthly freight quantity in March, at 1.3 million tons.

On the other hand, the performance of freight transportation on the Orient Train increased by 9.4 percent to 637 million tons-kilometres, compared to 582.1 million tons-kilometres in 2024. The train transported 1.7 million tons of goods, which included 782.8 thousand tons of limestone, 756.9 thousand tons of grain, and 117 thousand tons of cement.

The number of standard containers transported by rail also increased to 915.4 thousand containers in 2025. Container traffic recorded its highest monthly levels in March at 89.9 thousand containers, while the quantities of freight transported in tons reached its peak in December at 173.1 thousand tons.

Increase passenger and freight flights

The number of passenger train trips reached about 1.4 million trips during 2025, during which they covered a total distance of 42.3 million kilometers. The Riyadh Train took 949.4 thousand trips, with a total distance of 26.8 million kilometers.

In the freight sector, the number of trips increased to 8,885 trips, compared to 6,807 trips in 2024, and freight trains traveled about 6.1 million kilometers. The East Train carried out 5,918 trips, while the North Train recorded the largest distance traveled, amounting to 3.7 million kilometers.

In terms of punctuality, the Haramain Express Train recorded the highest rate of 97.8 percent, followed by the East Train with a rate of 96.1 percent, and then the North Train with a rate of 94.3 percent. Trip cancellation rates reached 0 percent for the East Train, 0.17 percent for the Haramain Express Train, and 0.35 percent for the North Train.

French stocks fell, Monday, as concerns escalated over public debt and borrowing costs, after the violence that the country witnessed during weekend protests brought political and social pressures back to the forefront, on the eve of Parliament’s vote on 2027 budget revenues.

The main CAC 40 index fell by 1.23 percent to 7,858.64 points by 09:40 a.m. local time, lagging the performance of European markets, at a time when the French index lost more than 3 percent since the beginning of the year, while the European Stoxx 600 index rose by more than 8 percent during the same period.

Concerns extended to the sovereign debt market, as the French ten-year bond yield rose to 4.85 percent, compared to the German yield falling to 3.41 percent. The spread between the two returns widened to 144 basis points, compared to about 137 basis points on Friday, reaching levels not seen since 2012, in a sign of increased investor caution towards the risks associated with French debt.

Deutsche Bank analysts warned that the violence may make international investors less willing to buy French government bonds, known as OAT, adding that the slight improvement witnessed in French yield spreads in recent days will be subject to a new test.

For her part, Kathleen Brooks, director of research at XTP, expected the difference to widen to about 150 basis points, in light of the accumulation of political and social pressures in conjunction with the government’s efforts to approve a budget that includes measures to control public finances during the coming year.

On Tuesday, the French National Assembly will vote on the revenues of the 2027 budget, which includes measures to correct public finances worth 43 billion euros, in an important political test for the government amid escalating living pressures.

The October 17 protests were followed by acts of looting, vandalism, and unrest in a number of French cities. According to the authorities, the events resulted in approximately 2,400 arrests and the injury of approximately 1,000 police and gendarmerie personnel. The network of French Chambers of Commerce and Industry also expected the number of directly affected stores to exceed two thousand, while trade and distribution sector federations estimated the cost of the damage at hundreds of millions of euros.

In the currency market, the euro fell by 0.26 percent to $1.1208, amid fears that the unrest will increase political pressure on the government and exacerbate uncertainty about the budget. Brooks warned that any increase in political support for forces opposed to the European Union may add new pressures on the single currency.

Banks, retail and tourism are in the losses

The wave of decline included most of the stocks included in the CAC 40 index, with the banking, retail, tourism, and commercial real estate sectors incurring noticeable losses.

“Stellantis” stock topped the losses, falling by 3.2 percent, followed by “Unibail Rodamco Westfield,” which specializes in shopping malls, with a decline of 3.05 percent, then the “Accor” hotel group, whose stock fell 2.84 percent.

Tire maker Michelin's shares also fell by 2.44 percent, and Carrefour's retail shares fell by 2.29 percent. Shares of major French banks fell, as Société Générale fell 2.16 percent, Credit Agricole 2.13 percent, and BNP Paribas 2.08 percent, while the insurance company AXA lost 1.56 percent.

The losses extended to the aviation and defense sectors, with Airbus shares falling 2.22 percent and Thales shares falling 2.18 percent.

On the other hand, Euronext shares, operator of the Paris Stock Exchange, rose by 1.61 percent, and Capgemini shares rose 1.28 percent, while Total Energies shares recorded limited gains of 0.42 percent.

Major Gulf stock markets moved limitedly in early trading on Monday, with tensions in the Middle East keeping investors on edge, in light of the explosion of an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and continued uncertainty about reopening the waterway.

Brent crude futures fell by 2.08 percent to $107.57 per barrel, by 06:19 GMT, after closing on Friday at their highest levels since May 19, with investors taking profits, following US President Donald Trump’s exemption of Russia from sanctions and customs duties, in a move that could lead to an increase in Russian fuel exports.

In Saudi Arabia, the main index fell by 0.3 percent, affected by the decline in the shares of the “Saudi Arabian Mining Company” (Ma’aden) by 1.7 percent, and the decline in the shares of “National Bank” by 0.8 percent.

Saudi Aramco shares fell by 0.3 percent.

In Dubai, the main index stabilized, despite the rise in Dubai Investments shares by 2.4 percent. The group intends to offer a 20 percent stake in DIB Holding, which owns the Dubai Investment Park real estate activity, in the first initial public offering in the Emirates this year, and one of the few offerings in the Gulf region since the outbreak of the war with Iran.

In Abu Dhabi, the index fell by 0.2 percent, while the Qatari index fell by 0.5 percent, trading at its lowest levels in more than six years.