Mecca Metro | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Native name | قطارات مكة للنقل العام |
Locale | Mecca |
Transit type | Rapid Transit |
Number of lines | 1 – Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro line (shuttle train for Hajj pilgrims) 3 (projected) [1] [2] |
Number of stations | Line S – 9 Line A B C D – 81 (projected) [2] |
Operation | |
Began operation | November 13, 2010 |
Technical | |
System length | 188 km (117 mi) (projected) [2] |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
The Mecca Metro or Makkah Metro is a metro system with four planned lines in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Metro was constructed by China Railway Construction Corporation [3] and is run by Mecca Mass Rail Transit Company (MMRTC). The metro forms part of the 62-billion-riyal Mecca Public Transport Programe (MPTP), which will include integrated bus services. [1] [4] [5]
The four new metro lines will be in addition to [5] the existing Al Mashaer Al Mugaddassah Metro line: 18.1 km, connecting Mecca, Arafat, Muzdalifa, and Mina opened in November 2010. [6] [7]
Many people utilize the Mecca Metro during the Hajj. The price for the metro is 250 riyals, with prices lowering to 100 riyals if traveling on the last day of Hajj. [8]
In August 2012, it was announced that the Saudi government had approved a US$16.5 billion budget to build four metro lines (182 kilometers (113 mi)) of the system. [9] The announcement gave an estimated time period to completion of 10 years. Invitations for tenders were due to be issued in January 2013. [10]
Four new lines are to be built. [11] Work had been expected to commence construction in 2015: [1]
Work on the 188-kilometer (117 mi) long metro network was expected to commence in 2016. [2] However, as of February 2017, construction contracts had still not yet been awarded. [12] As of June 2017 [update] , construction contracts are expected to be awarded in 2018. [13] [ needs update ]
MMRTC has appointed Prasarana Malaysia to provide consultancy services during Phase 1, which covers the construction of two metro lines; totaling 45.1 km and 22 stations by 2019. [4] [ needs update ]
Mecca is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia and the holiest city in Islam. It is 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its last recorded population was 1,578,722 in 2015. Its estimated metropolitan population in 2020 is 2.042 million, making it the third-most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. Pilgrims more than triple this number every year during the Ḥajj pilgrimage, observed in the twelfth Hijri month of Dhūl-Ḥijjah.
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