Makkah train to transport 130,000 pilgrims

Saudi Arabia has completed the first stage of a train that will transport nearly 130,000 pilgrims through the holy sites in this year’s Haj season scheduled to start in November, newspapers reported recently.

The government has allocated nearly SR6.7 billion (Dh6.56bn) for Makkah’s first train project, which will eventually have the capacity to transport around two million pilgrims, the papers in the kingdom said.

Quoting Saudi officials, the papers said the train will launch the service this year for the first time in Makkah’s history, adding that it would largely contribute to easing road congestions caused by the accumulation of thousands of cars near Makkah.

“This year, the train will be able to transport 130,000 pilgrims into Makkah through all holy sites…space is allocated for 110,000 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia and 20,000 from neighbouring Gulf countries,” said Jamil Al Qirshi, Director of the Saudi Haj (pilgrimage) commission in Makkah.

“The train will have the capacity to transport 500,000 pilgrims when the second phase is completed next year and two million when the third and last phase is finished in 2012…its total cost will be about SR6.7bn.”

A Chinese company, part of a Saudi-French-Chinese consortium which won the contract, is building the metro, dubbed the “'Holy Rituals Train”.

The trip through the holy sites in Makkah will last around seven minutes and the ticket price has initially been set at SR90, Alriyadh daily said.

The metro project was initiated three years ago as part of a costly programme by Saudi Arabia to tackle massive traffic congestion during the annual Haj season and facilitate access to all sacred sites in Makkah.

The project followed a series of incidents that have killed thousands of pilgrims in stampedes, building collapses and other accidents during the Haj season.

More than two million Muslims from Saudi Arabia, GCC countries and other nations descend on Makkah every year to perform Haj, which is scheduled for the second half of November.

Holy Rituals, a massive green-yellowish train, will transport the pilgrims from the outskirts of Makkah to the ritual sites through the Haj season and bring them out of the city at the end of the season, according to the newspapers.

"This train will transport the pilgrims into Holy Makkah and to all ritual sites inside the city... It will pass by places where the pilgrims usually gather but will avoid their tents," the Aljazira Arabic language daily said.

"It is a first-time service that is expected to save Makkah the entry of more than 50,000 cars during the Haj season. This means it will largely contribute to resolving the traffic congestion problem that had troubled the pilgrims and constituted a main cause of some accidents."

The Saudi government has spent more than SR20bn on development projects in Makkah over the past few years following an increase in accidents and criticism over lack of proper services for pilgrims.

The projects involved the construction of buildings on top of a surrounding hill, expansion of the area on top of the Holy Mount Arafat, development of the sewage and fire-fighting systems, upgrading health and transportation services and a SR4.2bn expansion of the space and roads leading to where Muslims perform Ramy Aljamarat (stoning of the devil), the scene of some accidents over the past few years.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.