Trial run of the Holy Sites Train Project will start by the middle of Ramadan and continue until Haj, said Fahd Abu Tarboush, Director General of the Holy Sites Train project. The train will be operating automatically with no driver as a test preparing for transporting pilgrims in the next Haj season at full capacity, he added. When the system is operational, 15 trains will transport pilgrims between Arafat, Muzdalifa and Mina, with two on standby; each train will have 12 carriages and a 3,000-passenger capacity, Abu Tarboush said. Passengers will board and depart at nine tent-shaped stations, three in Arafat and three in Muzdalifa and Mina, each of which will have a capacity of 12,000 people, the official said. The trains will transport people to the Grand Mosque on a year-round basis from the new parking area the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs set up on Taif Road, and from Al-Awali area and adjacent areas, which will reduce traffic congestions around the Grand Mosque, he added. Over 15 years, Saudi Arabia spent SR30 billion on projects serving pilgrims; the projects include Jamarat Bridge, other bridges, the Holy Sites Train, a firefighting network, a flood-drainage project and other efforts. __
