This is what riding the world’s tallest, fastest and longest rollercoaster will look like (Picture: Intamin Amusement)
The world’s fastest and tallest rollercoaster is set to open in Saudi Arabia, reaching top speeds of up to 156mph.
Falcon’s Flight is set to open at Six Flags Quiddiya next year, a massive theme park near Riyadh constructed as part of the gulf state’s Vision 2030 initiative.
The towering coaster features over 13,000ft of track, and at one point lunges off the side of a cliff into a 640ft drop.
Billed as the world’s first ‘Exa Coaster,’ the ride smashes the current height record of 456 feet held by Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey.
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It will also outrun the quickest, too – currently the Formula Rossa at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, which reaches speeds of 149mph and requires riders to wear goggles.
The finished coaster will be taller than the London Eye and will soar over a Formula 1 race track, which will also be built nearby.
There will be six trains each seating 14 people, two in the front car and four each in the remaining three cars, with each row sporting its own windshield, removing the need to wear goggles.
The project, with one model car, was presented this week by Intamin during the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Expo.
Qiddiya’s Chief Executive Officer, Philippe Gas, said: ‘Rollercoaster fans around the world have been eagerly anticipating this ride since it was announced as there is nothing quite like it anywhere else.
‘Now we are in the design stage with the experts at Intamin and the engineering team at Six Flags, the excitement is building!
‘Falcon’s Flight will dominate the skyline at Qiddiya weave all the way around our destination, right out of the theme park, up the cliffside, and down the cliff face – the greatest drop of any ride in the world; it won’t be for the fainthearted.’
The gigantic coaster will include a 640ft drop and plummet off the edge of a cliff (Picture: Intamin Amusement)
The coaster will also reach speeds of up to 156mph (Picture: Intamin Amusement)
Six Flags Qiddiya is billed as ‘a theme park that will break all records of family fun and entertainment’, spread over six themed lands with ‘a range of record-breaking rides and attractions including the gravity-defying Falcon’s Flight’.
It is set to be built in Qiddiya, a planned city ‘on the doorstep of Riyadh’ being developed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.
‘Our objective, in line with Vision 2030, is to ensure that Saudi Arabia is listed amongst the world’s top tourist destinations and we are proud of the local, regional and international media attention our project continues to attract,’ a website advertising the development plans reads.
Saudi Arabia, with one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, is planning a number of so-called megaprojects intended to reinvent its economy to reduce its dependency on oil and gas, which has been labelled Vision 2030.
Part of the Vision’s goal includes attracting 27 million domestic and foreign tourists to the Arab country.
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