Expo 2030 Riyadh Infrastructure Connections: Metro Line 7, Road Networks, and Utilities

The infrastructure enabling Expo 2030 Riyadh extends far beyond the boundaries of the 6 square kilometer exposition site, encompassing a city-wide transformation of transport, utilities, and urban systems that represents one of the largest coordinated infrastructure programmes in the history of the Middle East. At the centre of this programme is the planned Metro Line 7, which will connect the historic Diriyah Gate development in northern Riyadh to the Qiddiya entertainment city in the southwest, passing through the Expo site, King Salman Park, New Murabba, and King Salman International Airport along a corridor that links virtually every major development project in the capital. This line, combined with the existing six-line Riyadh Metro system, an expanded road network, and approximately 50 kilometres of new utilities infrastructure within the Expo site itself, creates a multi-modal access framework designed to move tens of millions of visitors efficiently and comfortably during the Expo’s six-month operational period and to serve the city’s long-term growth for decades beyond.

The Riyadh Metro: Foundation Infrastructure

Any analysis of Expo 2030’s infrastructure connections must begin with the Riyadh Metro, the world’s largest urban transit system built in a single phase and the foundational transport asset upon which the Expo’s accessibility strategy rests. Inaugurated in 2025, the metro system comprises six fully integrated driverless lines operating 320 Alstom carriages with a daily capacity of 1.2 million passengers. Since its launch, the system has carried over 120 million passengers with an on-time performance rate of 99.8 percent — operational statistics that rank it among the most reliable urban transit systems in the world.

The metro’s coverage is impressive for a system that has been operational for only approximately one year. Roughly 18 percent of Riyadh’s residents — approximately 1.5 million people — live within a 15-minute walk of a metro station, a coverage metric that compares favourably with Dubai’s metro despite Dubai’s system having operated for over 15 years. The system was designed and constructed by a consortium that included Bechtel, establishing a relationship between the engineering firm and Saudi transport authorities that now extends into the Expo programme through Bechtel’s role as Project Management Consultant.

The six existing lines provide the backbone of transit access across metropolitan Riyadh, connecting major commercial districts, residential areas, government facilities, and transportation hubs. For the Expo, the existing metro system provides the primary transit link between the city centre and the northern corridor where the Expo site is located. However, the existing system’s alignment does not provide direct service to the Expo site itself — a gap that Metro Line 7 is designed to address.

Metro Line 7: The Expo Lifeline

Metro Line 7 represents the single most significant infrastructure addition being planned in direct response to the Expo and its legacy requirements. The line’s route from Diriyah Gate in the north to Qiddiya in the southwest traces a diagonal across the metropolitan area that connects virtually every major development project under construction or in planning.

Route and Key Connections

The line’s northern terminus at Diriyah Gate connects to one of Saudi Arabia’s most significant heritage and development projects — a $63 billion mixed-use development around the historic birthplace of the Saudi state. The Diriyah Gate development includes luxury hotels (The Langham, The Chedi, Rosewood, and Orient Express properties opening between 2026 and 2027), cultural institutions, retail environments, and residential neighbourhoods, all set within a restored heritage landscape. Metro Line 7 will provide direct transit access to this development, eliminating the current reliance on private vehicles for what is intended to become one of Riyadh’s premier visitor destinations.

Moving southwest from Diriyah, the line passes through or near King Salman Park — the 16 square kilometer urban park that represents one of the largest urban greening projects in the world. The park, already under construction, will provide a green amenity adjacent to the Expo site and is expected to attract millions of visitors annually once complete. Metro connectivity between the park and the Expo site creates a combined destination of enormous scale and diversity.

The Expo 2030 site itself represents a critical stop on Line 7, providing direct metro access to the exposition from both the north and southwest. This connection is fundamental to the Expo’s transport strategy, which aims to maximize the share of visitors arriving by public transit and minimize the vehicular traffic that would otherwise overwhelm the site’s road access capacity. A dedicated station or stations serving the Expo site will be designed for high-capacity throughput, with wide platforms, multiple access points, and direct connections to the site’s internal circulation system.

Continuing southwest, Line 7 connects to the New Murabba downtown development — a PIF-backed project centred on “The Mukaab,” a 400-metre cubic structure that will house hospitality, entertainment, and commercial facilities. New Murabba is positioned as a new centre of gravity for Riyadh’s urban life, and metro connectivity is essential to its integration with the broader city.

The line also connects to the expanded King Salman International Airport, providing a transit link between the airport and the Expo site that enables international visitors to reach the exposition directly from their point of arrival. This airport-to-Expo metro link is a strategic asset for the event’s accessibility and for the long-term value of the metro investment, as the airport is itself undergoing a massive expansion programme.

The southwestern terminus at Qiddiya connects to the entertainment city that opened its Six Flags theme park on December 31, 2025 — the first Six Flags park in Asia — and is expanding rapidly with additional attractions including the Aquarabia water park. Qiddiya’s target of 17 million annual visitors generates transit demand that justifies the metro investment on standalone merit, independent of Expo-related ridership.

Technical Specifications

Metro Line 7 preparation is scheduled to begin in 2026, with construction expected to follow established timelines aligned with both Expo readiness and long-term transit planning. The line will add approximately 150 new carriages to the metro system’s fleet, expanding the total from the current 320 to 470 carriages — a 47 percent increase in rolling stock capacity that reflects the anticipated ridership growth from both the Expo and the connected developments along the route.

The line will employ the same driverless technology platform as the existing six lines, maintaining system-wide interoperability and enabling passengers to transfer seamlessly between lines. The technology platform, supplied by Alstom, has proven its reliability through the existing system’s 99.8 percent on-time performance, providing confidence in the seventh line’s operational capability.

Station design for Line 7 will incorporate lessons learned from the first six lines’ initial period of operation, including enhanced wayfinding systems, improved accessibility features, and increased capacity for peak-period loading. Stations near the Expo site and other major destinations may incorporate special design features — public art, cultural interpretation, thematic elements — that reflect the significance of the locations they serve.

Road Network Infrastructure

While the metro system forms the backbone of public transit access, the road network remains essential for private vehicles, buses, logistics, emergency services, and the substantial support operations that a 42-million-visitor event demands. The road infrastructure programme encompasses both improvements to the broader Riyadh road network and the construction of internal roads within the Expo site.

City-Wide Road Improvements

The broader Riyadh road network is undergoing continuous expansion and improvement as part of the $92 billion total investment in the city’s transformation. Key arterials serving the northern corridor — including King Salman Road, King Fahd Road, and the Northern Ring Road — are being widened, upgraded, and supplemented with new interchange configurations to handle the increased traffic volumes generated by the Expo and the broader development of the northern sector.

Highway connections to the Expo site are designed to provide multi-directional access, preventing bottlenecks at any single approach. Dedicated lanes or priority routing for buses and emergency vehicles ensure that public transit and essential services maintain reliable access even during peak traffic periods. Intelligent traffic management systems, incorporating real-time monitoring, adaptive signal control, and variable message signage, will be deployed across the surrounding road network to optimize traffic flow and provide drivers with real-time routing guidance.

Parking strategy for the Expo employs a hub-and-spoke model. Large-capacity parking facilities are located at perimeter locations accessible from major highways, with shuttle bus services and last-mile transit connections transporting visitors from parking areas to the site. This approach minimizes the number of private vehicles approaching the site directly, reducing congestion in the immediate vicinity and preserving the pedestrian quality of the Expo experience.

Internal Site Roads

Within the Expo site, the road network designed and constructed under the Nesma & Partners contract provides the circulatory system for logistics, emergency access, and limited vehicular movement. The internal road network is designed primarily for service vehicles, emergency access, and controlled delivery operations rather than private vehicle traffic. The visitor experience within the site is designed to be overwhelmingly pedestrian, with internal roads functioning as a service layer beneath or alongside the pedestrian realm.

The internal road network integrates with the site’s loading and logistics strategy, providing efficient routes for the delivery of supplies, equipment, and materials required by 226 pavilions and the extensive food, beverage, retail, and operational support facilities across the site. Delivery schedules are managed to concentrate logistics movements outside peak visitor hours, minimizing conflicts between service vehicles and pedestrian flows.

Nesma & Partners: 50 Kilometres of Utilities

The contract awarded to Nesma & Partners in late December 2025 for the Main Utilities and Infrastructure Works package represents the most significant construction contract awarded for the Expo site to date. The scope encompasses approximately 50 kilometres of critical utilities networks that constitute the invisible foundation upon which the entire Expo operation depends.

Water and Sewage Systems

The water supply system delivers potable water to every pavilion, food service facility, public restroom, and landscape irrigation point across the 6 square kilometer site. The system must accommodate enormous peak demands — tens of thousands of simultaneous users during the busiest periods — while maintaining water quality, pressure, and reliability. The supply draws from Riyadh’s municipal water network, with on-site storage and boosting facilities providing the capacity and pressure management needed for the site’s unique demand profile.

The sewage system collects and conveys wastewater from the same constellation of facilities, routing it to treatment systems that enable greywater recycling for landscape irrigation and other non-potable uses. The integration of water recycling into the utilities infrastructure reflects the Expo’s sustainability commitments and the practical imperative of minimizing freshwater consumption in one of the world’s most water-scarce regions.

Electrical and Communications Networks

The electrical distribution network delivers power to every corner of the site, serving loads that range from the modest requirements of small pavilions to the enormous demands of major exhibition structures with extensive lighting, climate control, audio-visual systems, and interactive technology installations. The network is designed with redundancy — multiple supply paths ensure that the failure of any single component does not disable service to critical facilities.

The communications network provides the data backbone for digital services across the site. With tens of thousands of visitors simultaneously using data-intensive mobile applications, streaming content, engaging with interactive installations, and sharing social media content, the network must deliver bandwidth and reliability comparable to that of a major telecommunications hub. The network also supports the site’s operational systems — security monitoring, crowd management, environmental monitoring, building management, and logistics coordination — all of which depend on reliable data connectivity.

EV Charging Infrastructure

The inclusion of EV charging stations in the Nesma contract reflects Saudi Arabia’s growing commitment to electric mobility and the practical reality that an increasing share of vehicles in Riyadh will be electric by 2030. The Kingdom’s investments in electric vehicle manufacturing — including the Lucid Motors plant at King Abdullah Economic City, the Ceer domestic EV brand, and the Hyundai joint venture commencing production in 2026 — will substantially increase the EV share of the vehicle fleet by the time the Expo opens.

The EV charging infrastructure at the Expo site serves both visitors driving electric vehicles to the site and the growing fleet of electric service vehicles, shuttles, and autonomous transport units that will operate within and around the site. The charging network is designed to accommodate rapid charging for visitor vehicles at perimeter parking facilities and slower charging for fleet vehicles at service depots.

Integration with Broader Riyadh Transformation

The Expo’s infrastructure connections cannot be understood in isolation from the broader $92 billion investment in Riyadh’s transformation. This investment programme encompasses transportation, housing, cultural facilities, green spaces, digital infrastructure, and institutional capacity across the metropolitan area, with the Expo serving as both a deadline and a catalyst for accelerating delivery.

The King Khalid International Airport, currently serving as Riyadh’s primary air gateway, has undergone terminal reallocation to boost capacity from 42 million passengers in 2025 to 56 million passengers in 2026 — a 33 percent increase that addresses the near-term growth in visitor arrivals. The interim capacity expansion, achieved through upgrading Terminals 3 and 4 and reallocating airline assignments, provides the airport capacity needed to accommodate growing demand while the King Salman International Airport mega-project proceeds on a longer timeline.

The road network improvements extend across the metropolitan area, with particular emphasis on corridors connecting major development projects, entertainment destinations, and hospitality clusters. The goal is to create a seamlessly connected metropolitan area where visitors can move efficiently between the Expo, Diriyah Gate, Qiddiya, the city centre, and other attractions without encountering the traffic congestion that currently characterizes peak-period movement in Riyadh.

Digital infrastructure investments — including 5G network deployment, fibre-optic expansion, and smart city sensor networks — provide the connectivity foundation for the Expo’s digital strategy and the broader smart city vision for Riyadh. The metro system’s digital infrastructure, the Expo site’s communications network, and the city-wide 5G deployment create an integrated digital ecosystem that enables real-time information services, mobile payments, navigation, and the metaverse capabilities that the Expo plans to deploy.

Utilities Beyond the Site: Regional Infrastructure

The Expo’s utilities demands interact with Riyadh’s regional infrastructure in ways that require careful planning and coordination. The electrical power system must accommodate the Expo’s substantial load alongside the growing demand from the broader northern sector’s development. The water supply system must deliver reliable service to the Expo while maintaining supply to existing and new developments in the surrounding area. The wastewater system must handle the Expo’s extraordinary peak flows without overwhelming the capacity of downstream treatment facilities.

The Saudi Electricity Company and the National Water Company have incorporated the Expo’s projected demands into their regional infrastructure planning, with investments in transmission capacity, generation resources, treatment plants, and distribution networks scaled to serve both the Expo and the long-term development of the northern sector. This integrated approach ensures that the infrastructure investments made for the Expo continue to provide value after the event concludes, serving the King Salman Science Oasis legacy district and the surrounding residential and commercial developments.

Construction Coordination: The Infrastructure-Building Interface

The phased construction approach — infrastructure first, then buildings — creates a critical dependency between the utilities infrastructure being installed by Nesma & Partners and the pavilion construction programme that begins in mid-2026. The timing of infrastructure completion in each zone of the site directly determines when pavilion construction can commence, making Nesma’s progress a pace-setter for the entire programme.

Bechtel, as Project Management Consultant, coordinates the interface between infrastructure contractors and building contractors, ensuring that utility connections, road access, and site preparation in each zone are completed according to the schedule required by the pavilion construction programme. This interface management is one of the most technically demanding aspects of the PMC role, requiring real-time tracking of hundreds of individual work packages and their interdependencies.

The infrastructure construction programme is designed with schedule contingency to protect the critical path. Each zone’s infrastructure completion target includes a buffer period before the earliest pavilion construction start date, allowing for recovery from delays without cascading impacts on the building programme. The management of this contingency — neither consuming it prematurely nor hoarding it unnecessarily — is a core programme management discipline that Bechtel’s experience on megaprojects of comparable scale is expected to address effectively.

Legacy Infrastructure Value

The infrastructure installed for Expo 2030 represents one of the most valuable and enduring legacies of the event. Roads, utilities, metro connections, and digital networks do not depreciate or become obsolete in the way that temporary structures do. The infrastructure installed to serve the Expo will continue to serve the King Salman Science Oasis, the surrounding urban development, and the broader northern sector for decades.

This legacy value is amplified by the permanent pavilion option, which transforms the infrastructure from event support into the foundation of a permanent international district. The utilities network designed to serve 226 pavilions during a six-month event will serve permanent institutional, residential, commercial, and cultural facilities for generations. The metro connections that bring visitors to the Expo will bring residents, workers, and tourists to the legacy district. The road network that facilitates Expo logistics will serve everyday urban mobility.

The infrastructure connections of Expo 2030 Riyadh represent an investment not merely in a six-month event but in the long-term capability and connectivity of Saudi Arabia’s capital city. The metro expansion, the road improvements, the utilities networks, and the digital infrastructure collectively advance Riyadh’s development trajectory by years, accelerating the emergence of a metropolitan area that aspires to rank among the world’s most liveable, connected, and sophisticated cities. The Expo provides the deadline and the catalyst; the infrastructure provides the lasting substance.