Sunday 25 August 2013 Work on the Haramain Railway project that links the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah is progressing as planned, Mohammed Al-Suwaiket, president of the Saudi Railway Organization, said Saturday. Speaking to reporters after inspecting progress on work being completed in Rabigh and Jeddah, he said contractors have stepped up their efforts to complete their work on schedule by employing more workers. “We are monitoring the works of contractors in different locations by conducting field inspections and checking on their reports,” Al-Suwaiket said. Mohammed Abuzaid, spokesman of SRO, said Al-Suwaiket inspected Wednesday works on a railway station at King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh and its Jeddah station. “He had a detailed discussion with the contractors and consultants and instructed them to complete the work on schedule by supplying an adequate number of workers and equipment,” Abuzaid said. Last year, the SRO awarded the final phase of the project to a group of Spanish infrastructure, construction and technology companies. The new 450-km line is expected to carry around 160,000 people a day and even more during the Haj pilgrimage. They will be transported on a fleet of 35 new high-speed trains. The project was launched in 2009 at an estimated cost of more than 12 billion euros. The new railway is set to open to the public in late 2014 or early 2015. Aside from the two holy cities, the line will have three other stops — two in Jeddah for commuters and one at King Abdullah Economic City, a newly developed residential, industrial and commercial macro-complex. Spanish construction companies Copasa, Imathia and OHL are responsible for building the line’s superstructure and track bases, as well as for the line’s mechanisms. The project’s second and last phase will involve the installation of tracks, signal and communication systems, the railway electrification system and import of 35 high speed trains. The second stage will also see the establishment of six power stations to meet the project’s power requirements. arabnews/news/462403
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 18:10:22 +0000
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