Saudi’s Haramain Railway begins operations after a year, ahead of Ramadan

Saudi Arabia’s Haramain High Speed Railway resumed operations on Wednesday, March 31, ahead of the start of Ramadan, after being closed for more than a year.

The railway line’s services were suspended in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trips will now operate from and to the stations of Makkah, Madinah, King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh.

The governor of the Madinah region Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz visited the Al Madinah station on Wednesday and stressed that all the Covid-19 precautionary measures must be adhered to all times.

صاحب السمو الملكي الأمير فيصل بن سلمان بن عبدالعزيز، أمير منطقة #المدينة_المنورة، تفضّل بزيارة محطة #قطار_الحرمين_السريع اليوم وتفقّد الجاهزية لإعادة تشغيل الرحلات، مع مراعاة كافة الإجراءات الاحترازية. pic.twitter.com/cjw0sonhPW

— قطار الحرمين السريع (@haramainrailway) March 31, 2021

Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, governor of the Makkah region also visited the airport station to mark the resumption of services.

صاحب السمو الملكي الأمير خالد الفيصل، أمير منطقة #مكة_المكرمة، شهِد اليوم احتفال #قطار_الحرمين_السريع بإعادة تشغيل الرحلات، وأقيم الاحتفال في محطة المطار بمحافظة #جدة. pic.twitter.com/c0DQhN6EAk

— قطار الحرمين السريع (@haramainrailway) March 31, 2021

The Haramain High-Speed Railway will now resume operations in full capacity with a maximum of 54 trips per day.

Each train includes 35 passenger cars with a capacity of 417 passengers on two-way trips between Makkah and Madinah.

The best trains in the world to serve the holiest place on the Earth.#عودة_قطار_الحرمين#قطار_الحرمين_السريع pic.twitter.com/qm2AiWE3om

— قطار الحرمين السريع (@haramainrailway) March 31, 2021

The train travels at speeds of 300kmh and reduces journey times between Makkah and Madinah to less than two and a half hours.

Officials said they are fully prepared for the crowds during Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr, with safety standards in place.

Read: Saudi’s Al Haramain train ticket prices officially revealed

The 450km Haramain line began operations in 2018. Later stages could see the line linked to Jeddah Islamic Port and Makkah’s metro.

The train line is eventually intended to handle 60 million passengers per year.