Herbert Smith Advises Winning Consortium on €6.5 Billion Mecca-Medina High-Speed Rail Project

Thursday, November 24, 2011
Tags:  Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
Herbert Smith is advising the Haramain High-speed Rail (HHR) Consortium, chosen to construct the Mecca-Medina-Jeddah rail link, on all legal aspects of the project.

Legal advice will be led by Herbert Smith’s Madrid office, coordinating the cross-border aspects with other offices of the network involved, particularly Dubai, Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah.
The Spanish-led consortium beat competition from French rivals to the contract to build a high-speed railway on the 450-kilometre Muslim pilgrim route between Mecca and Medina (via Jeddah) in Saudi Arabia. The high-speed trains on the HHR project will run at 320 kilometres an hour, taking passengers from Mecca to Medina in two and a half hours and carrying nearly 60 million passengers a year.
The €6.5 billion HHR project is one of the biggest international contracts ever won by Spanish companies and the first construction of a high speed AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) line outside Spain. The project involves the construction, operation, maintenance and the rolling stock supply.
The HHR Consortium is composed of 12 companies, led by the state rail operator Renfe, the state rail network Adif and the train manufacturer Talgo, together with the technology companies Indra and Invensys, and rail builders OHL, among others, plus Saudi companies Al Shoula and Al Rosan.
Lawyers from Herbert Smith’s Infrastructure, Corporate and Finance practices are involved. Leading the deal are Madrid partners Miguel Riaño and Alberto Frasquet, assisted by senior associate Guillermo Uriarte.
Miguel Riaño commented:
“It is a significant and exciting challenge for Herbert Smith Madrid to be lead counsel for the HHR consortium in this remarkable project.
We would like to thank our clients for their ongoing support and trust; it encourages us to provide greater added value to the services we render on a daily basis.
This project is a fabulous opportunity for the Spanish companies and we are truly delighted to be a part of it.”
The annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca numbers some 2.5 million Muslims from around the world, and the two holy cities attract Muslim pilgrims all year round.