Haramain High Speed Railway

The Haramain High Speed Railway (قطار الحرمين السريع, ɡɪtʕaːr alħarameːn asːariːʕ) (Haramain referring to Mecca and Medina Islamic holy cities), also known as the Western railway or Mecca–Medina high-speed railway, is a high-speed rail line in Saudi Arabia. It links the Muslim holy cities of Medina and Mecca via King Abdullah Economic City and Jeddah, using of main line and a branch connection to King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA), in Jeddah. The line is designed for a top speed of . Construction on the project began in March 2009, was officially inaugurated on 25 September 2018, and opened to the public on 11 October 2018. The railway is expected to carry 60 million passengers a year, including around 3-4 million Hajj and Umrah pilgrims, helping to relieve traffic congestion on the roads. It does not connect with the Mecca Metro. On 31 March 2021, the first trip to Medina was launched and the operations between Mecca and Medina will resume after they were postponed from 20 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 6.79 billion riyal (US$1.8 billion) design and construction contract for Phase I Package 1 – Civil Works for the project was awarded in March 2009 to Al Rajhi Alliance, which comprises China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), Al Arrab Contracting Company Ltd, Al Suwailem Company and the French construction company Bouygues. It is cooperating with the consultant Saudi Consolidated Engineering Company (Khatib and Alami). Scott Wilson Group will provide project management support. Phase I Package 2 covers construction of four of the five stations. In April 2009,$38 million worth of design contracts for the stations in Mecca, Medina, Jeddah and KAIA were awarded to a joint venture between Foster + Partners and Buro Happold. In February 2011 the station construction contracts were awarded to Joint Venture between Saudi Oger Ltd & El Seif Engineering for (KAEC (Rabigh) & Jeddah Stations), Saudi Binladin (Mecca Station) and a Turkish Company "Yapi Merkezi" for Medina Station.