Metro Mecca

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Metro Mecca
Makkah Mass Rail Transit logo.png
Route length: 18.1 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system : 1500 V  =
Opening: November 15, 2010
Number of stations: 9
Number of passengers per hour: 72,000
   
Expansion of downtown Mecca
   
Jamarat (Mina 3)
Station, station
Mina 2
Station, station
Mina 1
Station, station
Muzdalifah 3
Station, station
Muzdalifah 2
Station, station
Muzdalifah 1
Station, station
Arafat 3
Station, station
Arafat 2
Station, station
Arafat 1
Service / freight station - end of line
depot

The Mecca Metro ( Makkah Mass Rail Transit ) is a rapid transit system in the Saudi city ​​of Mecca . The route is intended to improve the flow of pilgrims during the Hajj to the holy places of Minā , Muzdalifa and the plain of ʿArafāt east of Mecca.

construction

Planning, construction supervision and acceptance were in the hands of DB International , which could only use Muslim employees for this, as the route runs in corresponding restricted areas . The railway infrastructure was built by the China Railway Construction Cooperation , the power supply from Siemens , signaling technology and the train control system were provided by the French Thales Group , and platform screen doors from Knorr / Westinghouse .

Infrastructure

The 18.1 km long route is provided with an overhead line . The route runs from Al Mashaaer to Al Mugaddassah mainly as an elevated railway on a viaduct. The depot is at the eastern end of the route, behind the Arafat 1 train station . The nine stations are divided into three groups, each of which is located at the main accommodation area for pilgrims and at the pilgrimage destinations in Muzdalifah and Arafat . Each of the three stations consists in turn of three stations arranged one behind the other, each of which has a 300 m long platform, so that each station group is approx. 1 km long. Each train only ever moves to one of the three stations within a group. The platforms are separated from the trains by security doors that only open when the train comes to a stop.

vehicles

Two vehicles of the Mecca Metro (2017)

The 204 vehicles are combined to form 17 trains with 12 cars each. One set is 276.8 m long. The vehicles are 3,091 m wide. They were supplied by Changchun Railway Vehicles from China . Each of the air-conditioned vehicles has 45 long-sided seats and five doors for quick entry and exit. A train has a total capacity of 3850 passengers.

business

The train only runs during the week of Hajj, when there is the greatest number of pilgrims to the vonArafāt plain. The preparation and follow-up of the annual operation take a total of two months. 5,000 employees are required for this. Driverless operation should be introduced in 2011. The system's capacity is designed for 72,000 passengers per direction and hour.

The metro went into operation on November 15, 2010, in time for the start of the Hajj in 1430 AH . Since it was only possible to travel with a third of the final capacity, the train was then only available to pilgrims from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait . The second expansion stage was put into operation on November 5, 2011, the first day of Hajj in 1431.

In the first few years, the metro was operated by the China Railway Construction Cooperation and again since 2018. In 2015-2017, Prasarana Malaysia , a Malaysian state-owned company that is involved in the operation of public transport in Kuala Lumpur , was for three years Operator.

expansion

The route that has now been built is to be extended later to the al-Haram mosque . It is the first of a planned network of five lines with connections to Jeddah Airport and the station of the planned Haramain high-speed line . An expression of interest for the construction of the remaining four planned routes has been launched.

Web links

Commons : Metro Mecca  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e Hajj trains shipped to Makkah. In: Railway Gazette . Railway Gazette International , May 18, 2010, accessed July 19, 2018 .
  2. dkä / kf: Punctual metro for Mecca pilgrims . In: DB-Welt, January 2011, p. 5.
  3. Online article Pilgrims to benefit from Makkah Metro In gulfnews.com Published: May 11, 2009, 23:14. As of September 1, 2009.
  4. a b Online article Makkah metro contracts signed In Railway Gazette - News from June 24, 2009. As of September 1, 2009.
  5. Press release Knorr-Bremse equips new metro in Mecca - Biggest order for platform screen doors in the company's history ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.knorr-bremse.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated June 25, 2009. As of September 1, 2009.
  6. 1.) Jamarat (Mina 3) and Mina 1 and 2; 2.) Muzdalifah 1–3 and 3.) Arafat 1–3. dkä / kf: Punctual metro for Mecca pilgrims . In: DB-Welt, January 2011, p. 5.
  7. HaRakevet No. 90 (2010), p. 17.
  8. ^ Wikipedia: Changchun Railway Vehicles
  9. HaRakevet No. 90 (2010), p. 17.
  10. Online article Makkah metro contracts signed ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.railassociation.ir archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In Iranian Association of Rail transport Engineering . As of September 1, 2009
  11. ^ Message from Metro Report International from July 25, 2018. In: HaRakevet 122 (September 2018), p. 25.
  12. dkä / kf: Punctual metro for Mecca pilgrims . In: DB-Welt, January 2011, p. 5.
  13. After: rma, jhä: Saudi Arabia. Metro / Mecca . In: IBSE-Telegram 242 (January 2011), p. 7, the capacity is 45,000 people / hour.
  14. dkä / kf: Punctual metro for Mecca pilgrims . In: DB-Welt, January 2011, p. 5; by Online Article China-Built Light Rail Whisks 1 Million Hajj Pilgrims To Mecca In Saudi Arabia Published: November 20, 2010 16:17, on November 13, 2010.
  15. ^ Message from DB Mobility Networks Logistics
  16. ^ Message from Metro Report International from July 25, 2018. In: HaRakevet 122 (September 2018), p. 25.
  17. ^ Walter Rothschild : Other Middle East Railways - Saudi Arabia, (i) Mekka (95:08, D i). In: HaRakevet 25/4 (December 2011), p. 17.