As in medicine, the basic health of a modern nation state can be measured by the efficiency of its digestive system. In a world where trade success has replaced military prowess as the measure of power, the healthiest countries are those whose physical communication links ensure the flow of goods and people. So it is that alongside its great economic growth since the mid 1970s, Saudi Arabia's transport infrastructure has expanded hugely. The commitment of the communications ministry is to continue to develop the essential channels, particularly road and rail. The ministry also works alongside the ports authority and civil aviation authority to provide an integrated transport policy.

According to the minister, Dr Nasser Al-Salloum, a strategic approach is essential. "To continue developing the network you must take into account improving the network itself and expanding it in order to be able to cope with the expected increase in transportation and traffic demands," he comments. The ministry looks after a sector that accounts for 6.9 percent of GDP (1998) and 3 percent of government expenditure.

The least developed area, and so the greatest opportunity, is railways. Just as they opened up the American West, so it is planned that the iron horse, or perhaps in Saudi Arabia's case, the iron camel, will bring much of the country in touch with its ports and markets. Rail is cheaper to build than road and provides a faster way to open up larger volumes of freight — especially the kind of bulk freight so essential to the mineral extraction industry or to agriculture. Saudi has, for instance, huge non-oil mineral potential that has so far been held back by the lack of a rail link. Officials at the state mining company Maa'den, wryly comment that rail is so important to the development of non-oil mineral resources that they have been spending much more of their time on rail issues than mining in recent months.

At the moment, there is only one rail line from Riyadh to the oil port of Dammam, but the government plans, together with strategic international partners, to add new lines linking Jeddah to the capital Riyadh (crossing the country east-west), and running north-south between the capital and Al Jamalid. A further improvement will be the addition of a link between Dammam and Jubail. Critically the new port links will eliminate the need for ships to skirt the Arabian Peninsula to Dubai, a trip taking six to seven days.

"Ships carrying goods and commodities to the countries located in the east and north-east of the Gulf can unload in Jeddah and then transport goods by railway to King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam, where again they can be shipped to their destinations," says the minister. "This will bring a lot of benefits and encourage foreign and domestic trade."

Overall, an investment of some $1.9 billion will add 1,500 miles to railways in Saudi Arabia — almost quadrupling current track length. The government is committed to providing a rail network, which will bear comparison with European or American standards in its reach and capacity while exceeding them in terms of capability and passenger comfort, although it is looking to the private sector to provide the funds to construct and operate the railroads through build-operate-transfer contracts.

New rails and extensive road link modernization will also bring the ports in easier reach of producers. The key seaports of Saudi Arabia were constructed to do more than speed the flow of oil from the coastal refineries to the world markets. As well as oil, the ports handle the import of vast quantities of consumer goods that the affluent Saudis demand and the export of mined mineral wealth and manufactured goods.

There are five major commercial ports at Jeddah, Dammam, Jizan, Jubail and Yanbu, as well as industrial ports at Jubail and Yanbu, a new cargo installation at Dhiba on the Red Sea and the vast oil terminal at Ras Tanura. While the others are expanding thanks to their improved network links, Jeddah and Dammam together accounted for 29 million tons of cargo last year, from motorcars to fabrics, from minerals to livestock.

For most human visitors, arrival in Saudi Arabia will be through one of three international airports. All three are less than twenty years old and offer an immediate impression of the scope of the country's ambition and attention to detail. Between them they handle 30 million passengers each year. There are also 22 regional or local airports and flights criss-cross the country — a great way to appreciate a unique landscape.

The national flag-carrier, Saudi Arabian Airways is the region's largest airline, carrying 30.5 million passengers to 53 international and 25 domestic destinations in 2000. It ranks fifteenth of 165 in the IATA list. From its first aircraft — a Douglas DC3 donated by President Roosevelt in 1945 — Saudi Airways has grown to encompass an ultra-modern fleet of 61 jetliners. In preparation for full privatization, a major restructuring program is currently in train. The airline's performance and private sector positioning is also a key factor in Saudi Arabia's approach to join the World Trade Organization. Customer service is high on the company's priority list, a factor to be further developed this year with the introduction of is priority Gold Service. Saudi Airways has no economy class — part of the ethos is to regard its lowest priced ticket as "guest class" and this is where 85 percent of passengers are carried.

The outlook for the transport sector is continued expansion and development. It has been a startlingly fast transformation into a country with a communications network of a scale comparable with the most developed nations of Europe or the Americas. All the more remarkable when you consider that within living memory the camel train was the most significant mover of people and goods across the peninsula.

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