Saudi Arabia will resume operations of the Haramain high speed railway linking the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah on Wednesday, more than a year after services were suspended due to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.
Railway services were suspended on March 21, 2020 as part of the Saudi government’s efforts to combat Covid-19 but Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, advisor to King Salman and the governor of Makkah, will visit the railway station at King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah in conjunction with the launch of the first trip on Wednesday.
The Haramain service is one of the biggest public transport projects in the Middle East, a 450km electric train linking Makkah and Madinah, with extensions to Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City.
Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Minister of Transport and chairman of the Saudi Railways Organisation, said that the service will work at full capacity, with 54 trips daily, where one train can carry 417 passengers with a speed of up to 300km per hour.
The project will transport 60 million passengers per year on 35 trains.
Al-Jasser also said that the train is fully prepared for the Hajj season.
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