A pilot trip of Haramain Express train, connecting the holy cities of Makkah to Madinah, was successfully conducted recently in Saudi Arabia.

The Haramain Express, passing via Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City, is around 450km in length. It is expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2018, reports Arab News.

During the test drive, the train first ran from Jeddah to King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) station in Rabigh. Later, it continued its journey to Madinah at a speed of more than 300kmph.

Prince Khaled Al Faisal, Prince Abdullah bin Bandar, deputy governor of Makkah, was present during the trip. Transport Minister Sulaiman Al Hamdan, Spanish State Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport and Housing Julio Gomez, President of the Saudi Railway Organization (SRO) and Chairman of the Public Transport Authority Rumaih Al Rumaih and other officials were also present.

Prince Saud bin Khaled Al Faisal, deputy governor of Madinah, received the train at Madinah station.

Al Hamdan said, "The project represents substantial added value to the transportation system in the Kingdom and is in line with one of Vision 2030's objectives."

A fully operational Haramain Express is expected to transport more than 60 million passengers annually.

The train's travel time between Jeddah and Makkah will be around 21 minutes. It will take less than two-and-a-half hours to travel between Makkah and Madinah, the report adds.

Source: Khaleej Times