MADRID, 10 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The high-speed railway line that connects Mecca and Medina (Saudi Arabia) will offer, starting this Monday, March 11, the special program for the month of Ramadan to provide services to the thousands of pilgrims who are scheduled to come to the two holy cities. of Islam.
Specifically, the ‘Haramain High-Speed ??Railway’ line has scheduled 2,654 frequencies until April 8, 91 a day (38% more than the current average, 66 trains daily), and 1.1 million seats in total, according to Renfe in a statement.
In addition, night services will be resumed to meet the mobility needs of pilgrims after “iftar”, which is the daily breaking of the fast during Ramadan. A special reception center will also be set up at Medina station to facilitate the transit of pilgrims.
As Renfe highlights, the high-speed line between Mecca and Medina, operated by the Consortium in which the Saudi branch of Renfe has a majority shareholding, “continues with the sustained growth of its commercial activity.”
During 2023 ‘Haramain High-Speed ??Railway’ obtained a record of 6.97 million passengers, its highest number of annual users since the beginning of its commercial activity on October 11, 2018. This passenger volume also represented an increase 90% compared to 3.67 million in 2022.
In parallel, activity also grew as 24,533 commercial services operated in 2023, 61% more than the previous year, with a punctuality rate of 97% for on-time arrivals, 0.8 percentage points more than the previous year. .
