MAKKAH: The regional Mayor's Office has declared that Makkah will be the first Saudi city to have its own public transport train system after the Holy Sites Train is fully operational in this year's Haj season. The first phase of the project's inner city network has an estimated cost of SR8 billion. According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Arabic daily, Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar said the Haramain Train will come into service in the Hijri year of 1433, which begins at the end of November this year, and that the demand will be “great” for the high-speed inner city network to link up with the Haramain Train and the Holy Sites Train. “The first phase of construction for the internal network involves linking up the Holy Sites Train with the Haramain Train going via the Grand Mosque, and connecting up the north and east sides at the Central Zone with a 12-kilometer track,” Al-Bar said in a press statement. “Once the project has been approved it will be completed within no more than two and a half years.” The mayor said the works would entail the removal of many properties to make way for the track, and that SR2 billion has been allocated for removal and compensation of real estate owners affected by the plans. “Four stations will be built for the trains inside Makkah in addition to the stations for the Holy Sites and Haramain trains,” he said.
