Reuters and AFP have informed that Saudi Arabia has granted three foreign consortiums contracts worth $22.5 billion (€16.9 billion) to design and build a Riyadh metro.

U.S. construction firm Bechtel Corp leads a group which won a $9.45 billion contract to build two lines, the government announced. Its partners include Germany's Siemens Aktiengesellschaft and U.S.-based AECOM.

A consortium led by Spain's Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, and including France's Alstom Transport, Dutch group Strukton and South Korea's Samsung C&T Corp, won a $7.82 billion contract for three lines.

Italy's Ansaldo STS headed a group that won a $5.21 billion order. Its partners include Canadian firm Bombardier and India's Larsen & Toubro.

The 176-kilometre (110-mile) six-line network is aimed at easing chronic traffic congestion in Riyadh. The lines are planned to stretch across the capital and serve the airport and the future King Abdullah Financial District. Saudi officials said Riyadh's population was projected to grow from 6 million to over 8 million in the next 10 years.

Design work will start immediately and construction will begin in the first quarter of 2014, the government said. The project is expected to be completed in 2019.

Although the bids were submitted in early 2013, there has been a strange silence regarding the preferred bidder for the project. The bid deadline was delayed several times during the process. The Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA) is the public agency awarding the contracts.