The Mashair Railway administrators are considering the possibility of employing Saudi women. Under new proposals women staff will be in charge of directing female passengers not only at the stations, but also onboard the train, according to a report in Asharq Al-Awsat. Director General of the Trains at the Holy Sites in Makkah, Fahd Abu Tarbush said: “We are considering the possibility in light of the intensive training courses undergone by a group of Saudi women in the field.” The railway administration currently employs 4,500 Saudi men. They have received intensive training in crowd administration, train stations and control rooms. The men were posted at nine stations and worked in three split shifts over the three days of Tashreeq. They were responsible for organizing around 720,000 passengers daily. According to Fahd Abu Tarbush: “These youths are the nucleus that will operate future railways projects in the Kingdom, including the Haramin Train.” He said: “These men are highly trained. They have been selected on criteria like the quality of their voice and their grasp of the English language.” The Mashir Railway network has the largest accommodation capacity in the world. There are 17 trains, each with 12 coaches with a capacity of 250 passengers. The trains travel at speeds of up to 80kph and pilgrims' journeys last eight minutes. Abu Tarbush said: “There have been no complications since the train system began operations.”
