MEGA Project - Railway Makkah - Madina

This mega project is related to the construction of a high-speed railway that connects two Islamic holy places - Mecca and Medina. It is also called the Haramain high-speed railway, where Haramain refers to the cities of Mecca and Medina. What is interesting about this project are the extremely difficult climatic and geographical conditions in which the line was built - deserts, open valleys, desert winds, and high temperatures, all dictated a need for different technical  solutions on the same railway line. As usual, let s start with the background of the project.  

 

The Saudi Railway Master Plan for the period 2010 to 2040 includes a portfolio of 97 billion US dollars dedicated to the strategic development of 19 individual railway lines. The total length of these lines is approximately 9,900 km (6,150 miles). These projects are classified into three stages, with the first stage covering the period from 2010 to 2025, the second one from 2026 to 2033, and the third from 2034 to 2040. The first stage is considered high-priority and includes the following projects: Upgrade of the existing double-track conventional rail line between Dammam and Riyadh. Construction of the Saudi Railway Land Bridge between Riyadh and Jeddah and between Dammam and Jubail, Construction of the Haramain High-Speed Railway connecting Mecca, Jeddah and Medina, and Construction of the North-South Mineral Line between the northern regions, Ras Al Khair/Jubail, and the capital Riyadh, including the connection to the proposed railway  network in Jordan via Al Haditha - ESCWA.

 

The idea of the Saudi Railway Organization with Haramain High-Speed Railway was to handle the transportation needs of a growing number of seasonal pilgrims to Mecca. In addition, there are performers of Umrah and a significant number of permanent residents of the cities along the way. The plan was to reduce the travel time between Mecca and Medina to 2 hours and 30 minutes, less than 30 minutes from Mecca to Jeddah, and about two hours from Jeddah to Medina. The estimated demand was quite high, with 60 million passengers per year. The city of Mecca attracts about 2.5 million pilgrims during the period of Hajj every year, as well as more than 2 million Umrah performers during the month of Ramadan. And there has already been the existing heavy passenger railway traffic, especially during Fridays. The authorities also wanted to further stimulate growth in a massive business zone of King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). Due to safety and comfort reasons, the Haramain Railway is also seen by the Saudi Arabian government as the best option for pilgrims. 

 

(King Abdullah Economic City - KAEC, Saudi Arabia)

Namely, it will help reduce traffic congestion and accidents on the roads linking Mecca and Medina. Due to all these reasons, the design and construction of the project needed to withstand heavy traffic conditions and tough climate, while the track, rolling stock, and stations needed to be designed in such a way to handle the temperature changes of up to 50 C. The length of the Haramain high-speed railway is 453 km (281 mi). It was designed as an electrified double track rail line with a maximum speed of 320 km/h (199 mph), with commercial operation at a maximum 300 km/h (186 mph). For the purpose of easier design and construction, the alignment was divided into six major areas: The first area in the length of 75 km (46 mi) from Mecca to Jeddah, mainly because this section goes through valleys and rolling terrain, The second area in the length of 35 km (21 mi) located in urban area of Jeddah, because of the need for redesigning and reconstruction of 8 highway interchanges, The third area in the length of 80 km (49 mi) from Jeddah to King Abdullah  Economic City because of the Sabkha Soil  deposits with low bearing capacity, The fourth area in the length of 100 km  (62 mi) from King Abdullah Economic City to Near Wadi Al Fora a, characterized  by coastal areas and open valleys, The fifth area in the length of 85 km (52 mi)  from Near Wadi Al Fora a to Near Alyutamah, characterized by mountainous terrain,  narrow valleys and flood plain which required excessive drainage structures, and Semi mountainous terrain from Near Alyutamah to Medina in the length of 75 km (46 mi). Additionally, the line has connecting branch to Jeddah KAIA airport (3.75 km) and auxiliary branches to the three maintenance bases:  a first-rate maintenance workshop near Mecca, another near Medina, and a depot at 125th km of the line.

 

However, the most significant aspects of this project are definitely high standards of safety and incident management system. It was planned that the line will be equipped with ERTMS which will consist of the Da Vinci management system, the ETCS 2 blocking system and the GSM-R voice and data communications system.  Also, reinforced concrete crash barriers, 1.8m in height, are provided along both sides of the track in urbanized sections. They are designed to take dynamic loads of 200 tons striking at speeds of 200 km/h. The Directorate General of Civil Defence is made responsible for handling potential emergency situations. Now, if you think safety is a big deal for railway traffic, why it would be different for your surfing and online traffic? 

 

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The project includes five state of the art passenger stations: Mecca, Jeddah Central, Jeddah KAIA, Rabigh-KAEC and Medina. Each station has a distinct identity and building outlook compatible with the respective cities they serve which will be discussed in the next chapter. Based on the approval of the project by the supreme Economic Council, the construction project is implemented on a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) approach. It was divided into two phases, with Phase I being divided into two packages. Phase I - Package 1 consists of the civil works on the track substructure, including the construction of bridges, viaducts, retaining walls, tunnels, and embankments. The $1.8 billion design and construction contract for Package 1 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. Work began in late 2009, with completion scheduled for April 2012. Subsequently, some bridges and other structures were added to the project, especially in area 1, in a total amount of $1, 04 billion, which was an increase of about 55% to the initial amount. Because of that the completion was extended to December 2014, but, bearing in mind the complexity of this phase, all works were completed only in 2016. Phase I - Package 2 includes the construction of the five passenger stations, four along the line and fifth on the branch towards the Jeddah KAIA airport. In April 2009, $38 million worth of design contracts for the stations were awarded to a joint venture of Foster&Partners and Buro Happold.

 

These companies have adopted a modularised approach to designing, taking into account Islamic architectural traditions. The stations represent custom designed prefabricated structures that maximize day light use while effectively filtering harmful ultraviolet rays, which is a kind of energy efficient green-building concept. The outlook of the stations is almost common to all 5, it is marked by a sequence of arches 25 meters high, but with colour variations that identify the different cities: gold for Mecca, in reference to the gold leaf of the Kaaba; green for Medina, for the colour of the dome of the Prophet's Mosque; blue and silver for Rabigh-KAEC, as a symbol of a new emerging city, and purple for Jeddah, in reference to its culture. In addition to the main arrivals and departures building, their design includes a mosque, a fire station, a helipad, and shopping and parking areas. Contracts for the construction of the stations were awarded in February 2011: for the Jeddah central and Jeddah KAIA in the value of $878 million, Mecca central in the value of $963 million, King Abdullah Economic City in the value of $530 million, and Knowledge Economic City  in Medina in the value of $468 million. We could mention here that in September 2019, a devastating fire caught the Jeddah station, with the blaze starting in the stations ceiling according to reports, which injured 11 people. It took more than 10 hrs. for firefighters to put the fire under control. Phase II of the project included the remaining infrastructure works that are not included in Phase-1: design, construction, operation and maintenance of the track, installation of signaling and telecommunication systems, power supply and catenaries.

 

It also includes the supply and maintenance of rolling stock, and the operation and maintenance of the line for 12 years. On 26th October 2011, the Saudi Railways Organization announced that the Saudi-Spanish consortium Al Shoula Group made up 88% of Spanish and 12% Saudis companies  won the Phase 2 contract in the amount of $9,3 b. Moreover, this phase was divided into two parts; the first being the construction of the superstructure, the supply of rolling stock and the commissioning of the line. The second part relates to the operation of the line and the maintenance of rolling stock, with Renfe and Adif in charge for the operation of trains and managing the line. The works started in September 2012 with a completion deadline in December 2016. Following the 32-month extension granted to Phase 1.1, Saudi Railway Organization and the Phase 2 consortium agreed in February 2014 on an Acceleration Plan to complete all works by the first quarter of 2018 - Which was eventually achieved. Talgo has supplied a fleet of 35 T350 trains and an additional train for the exclusive use of the Saudi royal family. The trains have capacity of 417 seated passengers, and are formed of two power cars, four business-class coaches, eight standard-class vehicles, as well as a caf , in a total length of 215m. The 300 km/h trains are based on the AVE Class series 102 and 112 supplied to Renfe, which have been adapted to operate in the extreme climatic conditions of the Arabian Desert. 

 

Among other, they have special insulation, window protection and a high-performance air conditioning. In addition, the trains feature special blowers positioned close to the wheels for clearing sand off the track together with military-grade air filters, reinforced door seals to prevent dust ingress, and polyurethane coatings on the driving cab windscreen to reduce wear from the blowing sand. Some dynamic tests were performed back in 2017 in extreme environmental conditions, with very high temperatures close to 50 C, and with the presence of desert sand. Results were good having in mind the trains had a good response to such conditions while still achieving the maximum speed of 300 km/h.

 

The project was opened in conjunction with the Saudi National Day on 25th September 2018, in the presence of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz. Commercial service on the line was fully introduced on 17th October 2018. At the beginning of the commissioning, the operator was running 40 trips per week, or eight trains per day, five days a week, with two days reserved for finalization of infrastructure works. For the first 6 months of operation, the line has carried more than 250,000 passengers. Load factors of 82% have been achieved on more than 450 trips that have taken place. Services operated at 93% punctuality. We were unable to find any further information on the ridership, so if any of our viewers are ware of those figures, we would be grateful if they share them with us in the comments. Also, we must point out that one of the biggest success stories of the project was the ability of suppliers from across the world to work successfully together in Saudi Arabia. 

 

This was the story of a fantastic mega project that once again showed that engineering has no boundaries and that it is possible to tame nature for the benefit of both, nature and humans. We hope that this railway line will show its true potential in the future, bearing in mind it had only one full year of  operation - as you know, 2020 brought us pandemic, with great restrictions, which especially  affected passenger transport systems. One last thing before the end.  As some of you already know, Railways Explained is now on Patreon! So, if you value our work and want to support our production, you can do it on that platform with a small monthly donation. Check out the link in the description!  Also, don t forget to go to NordVPN link, and consider getting a two-year plan with a huge discount provided by Railways Explained! And finally, this was all for today, we hope you enjoyed and learned something new about the railways of the world. Don t forget to like this blog, share it with your rail-loving friends.