MAKKAH: Dr. Habeeb Bin Mustafa Zain Al-Abideen, undersecretary at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and chairman of the Central Administration for Development Projects, categorically denied rumors that Mashair Train tickets have been forged. He said the Ministry has handed over 390,000 tickets to Tawafa establishments and government organizations conducting Haj-related activities and that the tickets will be sold to local and Gulf pilgrims in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, and Oman beginning on the 8th of Dhul Hijja 8 (Nov. 14). The Ministry has designed tickets for pilgrims in the form of wristbands with different colors that correspond to different stations in the Mashair Train system, which can carry 72,000 passengers per hour. Tickets are divided into three groups: blue wristbands for Arafat 1, Muzdalifah 1 and Mina 1; yellow for Arafat 2, Muzdaliafah 2 and Mina 2; and green for Arafat 3, Mina 3 and Muzdalifah 3. Zain Al-Abideen said pilgrims will use the wristbands for seven days, throughout the Haj rituals. Bracelets for the four Tashreeq days are for the use of to the government employees, he added. Dr. Al-Abideen did not dismiss the possibility of tickets being counterfeited by innovative forgers and said officials are considering the use of magnetized, computer-generated numbers on the tickets, which couldn't be counterfeited.
