Saudi Crown Prince MBS, once seen as a visionary with bold plans and unprecedented ambition, is now beginning to look like the undoer of the very projects he championed. From downsizing Neom City’s flagship project, The Line, to Sindalah Island failing to create much of a stir, and Trojena’s ski village losing the chance to host the 2029 Winter Games, the bad news does not seem to stop. Unfortunately, it has now been joined by yet another crack in the glossy glass wall, as NEOM has canceled contracts related to the construction of tunnel sections for The Line in northwest Saudi Arabia.
According to MEED, South Korean contractor Hyundai E&C said that Neom canceled its contract on December 29 last year. The news comes four years after Neom awarded contracts for the construction of the mountain tunnel sections of The Line in June 2022. Hyundai Engineering & Construction said it received an official termination letter stating a “request to terminate the contract due to the client’s business restructuring.” Clearly, ample restructuring is underway at The Line, with only a shadow of the former 100-mile mirrored metropolis of robots, flying taxis, and an artificial moon now remaining.
In fact, the mega-project, once touted as a groundbreaking home for no fewer than 9 million people, has been scaled down considerably, with Saudi priorities now appearing to tilt more toward practical industrial goals and artificial intelligence data centers than the fantastical urban vision originally promised.
With most plans altered, there is perhaps little need for a $1 billion, 12.5-kilometer section of underground tunnel meant to carry a highway, a subway, and a freight railway. Initial plans had the work split into four drill-and-blast packages. Neom said the rock excavated from the tunnels would be processed and reused in the permanent concrete lining and in other projects across the development. Unfortunately, sustainability seemed to exist more in the vision than in practical reality. As for the financials, Hyundai E&C said there has been no financial loss, and that the settlement for the input portion was completed.
