MAKKAH: The initial cost of the first phase of the internal Makkah train network is SR8 billion, the Mayor of Makkah Osama Al-Bar said Saturday. The mayor revealed the figure in a meeting with Emir of Makkah Prince Khaled Al-Faisal held to look at a study for the construction of the train network. The first phase includes a 12-km stretch of track to connect up the Holy Sites Train with the Haramayn Train in the central zone, works which are scheduled to take two and a half years to complete. Al-Bar said that the plans would connect the two train lines to form one local network. “The study for the project is still ongoing and once it's finished we'll take on board final recommendations,” Al-Bar said. “Lots of meetings have been held with investors who want to be involved in the development of the network under the public sector-private sector partnership system, as well as workshops with business people who wish to invest in it.”
