Haramain rail is a PIF project, says project director

The Al Haramain High-Speed Rail project is one of the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) projects, and is not connected to any government entity, Al Yaum newspaper reported citing Bassam Ghulman, the project’s director general.

Meanwhile, tickets prices for travel on the train haven’t been fixed yet, he added at a meeting with the Saudi Engineers Authority.

Al Ghulman said that the trains, stations and bridges are designed to serve for a period of 120 years until year 2136. The infrastructure can accommodate 100 trains although only 35 trains will be allocated to the projects, he added.

The high-speed rail links Makkah and Madinah, Saudi Arabia’s holy cities, passing through Jeddah and Rabigh. 

The project’s first phase, the Madinah-Jeddah line, is expected to be complete by 2016 end while the Jeddah-Makkah line is expected to start operations late 2017.