Haramain railway between holy cities ready for inauguration soon

The Haramain high-speed railway running between Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah is in the final stages of operational testing before its inauguration, Minister of Transport Nabeel bin Mohammed Al-Amoudi said on Monday. “This 450-km rail facility will be soon open for the public,” reported Arab News, 

Al-Amoudi, speaking on the sidelines of the rail Freight Solutions Forum, recently inspected station facilities and operational readiness of the track between the two holy cities, which can be covered in just 120 minutes. He said: “This investment will not only provide visiting Hajj and Umrah pilgrims with a first-class travel experience, but it will also boost economic development and create jobs.”

He said: “We have expansion plans and some master plans to be executed within the next few years. We are looking at the Saudi Land Bridge Project, which will connect Riyadh with Jeddah.”

The minister said that this project has been in the arranging stage for quite a while. It is one of the greatest in the area, including development of 950 km of new line amongst Riyadh and Jeddah and another 115km track amongst Dammam and Jubail.

He said the Land Bridge venture "will significantly affect the vehicle capability of the nation." With the development of the Jeddah-Riyadh rail connect, the time taken for traveler transport will be six hours rather than the present 10 to 12 utilizing a transport, as indicated by a report distributed as of late. This undertaking will receive front line innovation for the improvement of the new rail joins. 

Asked about the import of Greenbrier wagons from Poland, Al-Amoudi said: “We have received all the wagons, but not all of them are operational at the moment. They are going through the testing and commissioning phase.”

These wagons have been particularly planned and created for bone-dry conditions. Defensive materials were utilized to shield a few parts from sand and extraordinary temperatures in the Kingdom.