Approximately one-quarter of the new Mecca-Medine Express Railroad, built to accommodate pilgrims from Saudi Arabia, was completed.
Transport Minister Dr Jubara bin Id al-Sureysiri said that within the scope of the Haramain railway project, which will connect the cities of Mecca and Medina, 100 kilometers long Mecca-Medina Express Railway was laid. The total of 450 kilometers of railway line is expected to be completed by 2014.
He said that the speed of trains on the Mecca, Jeddah and Medina lines would exceed 300 per hour, and that the travel time between the two holy cities would be only two hours.
Harameyn railway is planned to carry over 3 million passengers per year. The Saudi Railway Organization gave the 9,4 billion-dollar auction for the second phase of the Harameyn project to the Saudi-Spanish Al-Shalya consortium.
The Saudi Arabian government has tendered a number of infrastructure projects in order to provide better opportunities for increasing pilgrimage and umrah visitors. With the MEKKE-MEDINA EXPRESS RAILWAY project, it is aimed to make the transportation between the holy cities easy and fast and to ease the road traffic. In addition, construction of more than one ring road, costing more than 550 million dollars, continues in Mecca.
Source: Show News
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