DAMMAM: The Al-Rajhi consortium has won the SR6.79 billion contract for the civil works of the Haramain Railway project linking the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.
Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry said the Makkah-Madinah Rail Link project with high-speed trains would be an ideal solution to transportation problems faced by millions of pilgrims each year. “The conclusion of the contract is the result of the great efforts made by Saudi Railway Organization (SRO), the General Investment Fund and the advisers of the project over the past weeks to scrutinize tenders submitted by various eligible corporations,” Al-Seraisry, who is also chairman of SRO, said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency yesterday.
“This contract is for undertaking the civil works, the first part for laying rail lines from Makkah to Madinah passing through Jeddah city and King Abdul Aziz International Airport. The stations will be built in the second part of the first phase and will be completed in three years from the date of signing the contract,” said Abdul Aziz Al-Hoqail, president of the SRO. He added that the expected journey time on the proposed 300 km per hour bullet trains would be half an hour between Makkah and Jeddah, and two hours between Madinah and Jeddah.
“Bullet trains between the two holy cities, a first in the Middle East, are the safest mode of conveyance for pilgrims and other passengers. The 450 km MMRL project will be fully electric-run and equipped with the latest signaling and communications systems,” he added. SRO had supplied all documents for the first stage of the project to the competing consortiums in April last year with three months for the submission of their tenders, he said.
