Neom has cancelled the contracts related to the construction of the tunnel sections of The Line in north-west Saudi Arabia, WCN’s sister publication, MEED, reports.
In a stock exchange announcement filed on 13 March, South Korean contractor Hyundai E&C said that Neom cancelled its contract on 29 December last year.
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Hyundai E&C was executing the drill-and-blast section of The Line’s tunnels in a joint venture with Greece’s Archirodon and South Korean counterpart Samsung C&T.
The firm said its share of the joint venture was about 35%, amounting to $483m.
Neom awarded contracts for constructing the mountain tunnel sections of The Line in June 2022.
The drill-and-blast works were split into four packages, with two contracting teams winning two packages each.
The other joint-venture team comprised Spain’s FCC, the local Shibh Al-Jazira Contracting Company (Sajco) and Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation.
The tunnels formed part of the infrastructure backbone of Neom’s 170km The Line development, launched in January 2021.
What began as Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s defining symbol of a post-oil Saudi Arabia unravelled with quiet finality over roughly two years. By April 2024, planners were reportedly being forced to cut the initial phase to just 2.4km by 2030.
By July last year, with the sovereign wealth fund facing tightening liquidity, the kingdom was reported to have conducted a “strategic review” to determine whether The Line was feasible – a process described as a “recalibration” of Vision 2030.
Resources are now being directed to projects essential for the Fifa World Cup 2034, Expo 2030, and critical housing, healthcare and education targets.
According to media reports, the government has pivoted towards repositioning what remains of Neom as an industrial and data centre hub, leveraging the Red Sea coastline’s access to seawater cooling for AI infrastructure.
This news article was first reported by WCN’s sister publication, MEED.
