Abstract
This paper addresses the construction of a spatial suitability model to determine the proposed track for a railway linking the city of Riyadh with the city of Jeddah in order to connect the east coast with the west coast of Saudi Arabia. This study relies on building a multi-criteria analysis decision model (MCDA) by modelling several spatial criteria, and therefore giving these criteria relative importance. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) that was used in the weighted overlay tool was performed. It is one of the tools used in building a suitability model. The study identified six criteria for determining the route. Among the most important of these criteria are: land use criteria, slope criteria, valleys criteria, topography and geology. The study resulted in the production of a map of the spatial suitability of a proposed railway linking the center of the Kingdom with its west, with a length of (832.42 km). The study recommends conducting more detailed studies of the economic aspects to estimate the financial cost of each criteria, reduce the value of this cost and endeavor to combine the environmental and social criteria presented by this study with the economic criteria.