JEDDAH, 27 December 2005 — Two railroad stations will be built in Jeddah’s new King Abdul Aziz International Airport to help facilitate flow of pilgrims between Jeddah and the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, announced Abdullah Rahaimy, head of the General Authority of Civil Aviation.
“The construction of the two stations is planned with the Saudi Railway Organization to coincide with the establishment of the new airport, which is to be constructed soon,” he said.
Rahaimy was speaking to the press yesterday at the Haj Terminal during an inspection tour by Abdullah Al-Fayez, undersecretary at the Makkah governorate.
Rahaimy said the first phase of the new airport involves constructing terminals to accommodate 30 million passengers a year.
He noted that expansion projects would be studied every five years according to the growth of flight operations in the region. The projects would include development and upgrade of the current terminals, including adding new operating systems and facilities, runways, lights, and fuel connections.
The projects, he said, will start as soon as the bidding process for contractors was complete.
Addressing the Jamrat Bridge project, Fayez said construction would begin on Jan. 15, immediately after the end of Haj.
The government has approved the demolition of the current bridge, and the new one will contain four levels with 24 access routes to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims each year for the stoning ritual.
“This will help ensuring maximum ease of movement for pilgrims and reduce the number of accidents,” said Fayez.
He added that civil defense authorities have taken measures to prevent floods in the holy sites in case of rains during the Haj. Fayez also took a tour around the Haj Terminal and received a batch of pilgrims from an Asian country, presenting them with gifts.
