$1.7bn Saudi monorail 'ready for hajj 2010'

A SR6.5 billion ($1.7bn) monorail project linking Makkah with the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah will be ready for use by some pilgrims for the hajj next year, it was reported on Monday.

A report issued by the Supreme Hajj Committee said it "will be ready for use to 35 percent of its capacity" for the 2010 pilgrimage.

King Abdullah approved the project to ease the transportation of more than three million pilgrims between the holy sites, and work started last year, Arab News reported.

The project, which is being implemented by a consortia of companies led by China Railway Company, will be operational with its full capacity during the hajj season of 2011, said the report.

“The monorail project will help withdraw about 53,000 buses and other vehicles being used by pilgrims coming by land from within the kingdom and neighboring GCC countries,” the report added.

The monorail will pass by three stations in Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina and will help transport at least 500,000 pilgrims within six to eight hours.

Studies are now underway on extending the monorail to a station close to the Grand Mosque in Makkah in order to link it with the Haramain Railway that connects the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, the paper added.