Public Transport Authority Chief and Acting President of the Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) Rumaih Al-Rumaih announced on Thursday that the Haramain high-speed train will start commercial operations on Oct. 1.
Rumaih said that there will be scheduled weekly trips from Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City of Rabigh on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. There will be eight services daily on both sides (four trips each side) in the morning and evening until the end of this year.
Starting 2019, the train will operate based on a new schedule.
The ticket rate for the journey between the two passenger stations in Jeddah and Makkah has been priced at SAR40 in the regular class and SAR50 in business class. The trip between Makkah and Madinah costs SAR150 in regular class and SAR250 in business class.
As an initial offer, the rail line will cut prices in half for two months starting from October, confirmed Rumaih.
Mohammed Fida, director general of the Haramain High Speed Train Project, said that tickets will be available on the project’s website from October. This will coincide with the launching of a special App for booking and purchasing of tickets.
He said that the sprawling Jeddah railway station has the capacity to hold 25,000 passengers in an hour. The Makkah Rusaifah station, located 4 km from the Grand Mosque, has a capacity to accommodate 20,000 passengers per hour while the Madinah station, which is 9 km from the Prophet’s Mosque, has a capacity of 4,000 passengers.
