Mecca Metro

Mecca Metro is a rapid transit system in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca million. The course is designed to draw improves the flow of pilgrims during the Hajj to the holy sites Mina, Muzdalifah and the plain of Arafat east of Mecca.

History and technical equipment

The 18.1 km long stretch of Al Mashaaer to Al Mugaddasssah runs predominantly as elevated train on a viaduct. The depot is located at the eastern end of the line, behind the Arafat Station 1 Between this and the depot is a turning loop. First, the trains are still controlled by hand, 2011 the driverless operation are introduced. The platforms are separated from the trains through security doors that open only when the train comes to a halt.

Company

Design, construction supervision and acceptance were in the hands of DB International, which was used exclusively to Muslim employees, as the track runs in the corresponding restricted areas. The railway infrastructure was built by the China Railway Construction Cooperation, the power supply from Siemens, signaling and train control system were supplied by the French Thales Group, platform screen doors Knorr / Westinghouse.

Specifications

Rolling stock

The final 204 vehicles supplied by Changchun Railway Vehicles from China. They are put together to form trains of 277 meters in length from 12 per car. Each train will have 540 seats with a capacity of 3850 passengers. The first 17 trains arrived from CNR Changchun Railways.

Operation

The capacity of the system is designed for 72,000 passengers per direction per hour. The nine stations are divided into three groups, which are located at the main Unterbringungs - the pilgrimage, and the pilgrim destinations in Muzdalifah and Arafat. The trains always puts only one each of the three stations, each about 1 km long holding group. The web is the Hajj only be operated during the five days (?) (4 weeks ). As could be driven at the Hajj 2010, only one third of the ultimate capacity, the train was only pilgrims from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait are available. 2011 then to the full capacity available. The Metro was taken on November 15, 2010 in time for the Hajj of the year 1430 AH, with reduced capacity in operation. The second stage was taken on November 5, 2011, being the first day of the Hajj, in operation.

Extension

The now established route to be extended later to Al Haram. It is the first of a planned network of five lines with connections to the airport Jeddah and the planned Haramain high-speed rail station. An expression of interest process for the construction of the remaining four scheduled routes was initiated.