Arafat will have a new facelift, including a new land layout and monorail system within two years, said Habib Zain Al-Abidin, Deputy Minister for Municpal and Rural Affairs. An Arafat expansion project worth over SR500 million will be launched as soon as the Haj is over this year, he said. The project will change the street layout and service and tent areas to minimize the risk of natural disasters in case of heavy rain and flooding, he said. The expansion project will be carried out in three phases, each phase is expected to cost SR170 million, he said. The first phase will include constructing an integrated drainage system, improving street layout, demolishing small hills to expand entry points to Arafat, he said. The first phase is expected to be complete within two years. A monorail system transferring pilgrims between the holy sites in Makkah will be complete in two years too, he said. The first phase of an SR20 billion Makkah monorail project will start soon after the Haj season to facilitate transportation of pilgrims between the holy sites of Makkah, Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa. The project is designed to transport five million pilgrims. The monorail system will start from the western side of the holy sites linking Arafat with Mina through Muzdalifa, said Zain Al-Abidin. The passenger capacity of the 20-cart monorail system is estimated at 70,000 per hour.
