“All concerned service providers, including the General Organization of Railways, will participate in the workshop to review a study that recommends shifting the track from the middle island of the Al-Haramain Expressway to the new ring road currently being constructed by the Ministry of Transport in Jeddah,” one source said.
If the new recommendations are approved, it is hoped there will be fewer potential delays in the construction of the track, especially with regards to knocking down houses that may be in the way of work and building extra flyovers.
Work on the Haramain rail project started in 2006. It is seen as one of the basic infrastructure projects most needed in Jeddah.
It has been designed to service the ongoing expansion of King Abdul Aziz International Airport.
The train will play a significant role in transporting the ever-increasing pilgrims and visitors between Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah.
There were an estimated 35 million road journeys between Makkah and Jeddah last year. Over a third of them were in private vehicles. The train service will have two terminals: one in the center of Jeddah and the other at the airport.
Trains can reach speeds of up to 320 km per hour and can complete a journey between Makkah and Madinah in two and a half hours. The project will be completed in 2013 but sections of it are expected to be operational this year.
