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Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro line

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Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro line
 S 
Overview
Native nameقطار المشاعر المقدسة الخط الجنوبي
OwnerMakkah Mass Rail Transit Company (MMRTC)
LocaleEastern Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Transit typeRapid transit
Number of lines1
Number of stations9
Operation
Began operation13 November 2010[1]
Operator(s)China Railway Construction Corporation Limited
CharacterElevated
Rolling stockCRRC Changchun Type 12A EMUs
Number of vehicles204 carriages, 17 twelve-car sets[2]
Train length276.8 metres (908 ft 2 in)[2]
Headway150 seconds peak
Technical
System length18.1 km (11.2 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification1,500 V DC
Overhead catenary

The Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro Line (English: The Sacred Sites Train Line, Arabic: قطار المشاعر المقدسة, romanized: qtar al mashaaer al muqaddassah), is a metro line in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Claimed to have the highest capacity of any metro in the world, it operates for seven days a year, and is used exclusively as a shuttle train for pilgrims between holy sites in Mecca, Mount Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina to reduce congestion caused by thousands of buses and cars during the Hajj. It is the second metro system on the Arabian Peninsula, after the Dubai Metro (although, with its limited open hours, some consider it more of a shuttle train service).[citation needed]

The line opened on 13 November 2010,[1] in time for the Hajj 1431 between 25–29 November 2010.[2] It was built separately from, and will not be physically linked to, the future Mecca Metro network.

Services

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Congestion at Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro station Arafat area, November 2012

Before completion, Saudi officials estimated the line would replace 53,000 buses, promising a safer, more comfortable pilgrimage.[3] By the time of the 2011 Hajj (Hajj 1432) it was able to operate at 100% capacity and is estimated to have carried more than 3.95 million passengers[4] making it, for that period, the most intensively used metro line in the world and among the busiest systems in the world. Each 12-car train carries 3,000 passengers and the headway is 150 seconds (24 trains per hour).[Note 1]

In peak periods the line operates with a special "group shuttle" schedule, better known as train movement "D", with three departure stations and three arrival stations. (At each holy site on the line there are three stations.) At off-peak times stopping-all-stations service is run, with various movements "A", "B", "C" and "E".[4] Tickets are 250 riyals, except the last day when they are 100 riyals.[5]

Operation contracts

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In March 2010, Serco Middle East was awarded a contract by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) to advise on the operation and maintenance of the Makkah Metro. CRCC had been awarded the design, build, operate and maintain contract in 2008 by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.[6][7]

In November 2014, Metro project promoter Makkah Mass Rail Transit Co has selected Kuala Lumpur transport agency Prasarana to provide consultancy services during Phase 1 of the Makkah Public Transport Programme. Phase 1 covers the construction of two metro lines totalling 45.1 km and 22 stations, with commissioning scheduled by 2019.[8]

During the 2014 Hajj, staff from Prasarana Malaysia and Express Rail Link helped to fulfil CRCC’s staffing requirement to support operations.[9]

Beginning in 2018, the contract was once again held by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited after three years of operation by Prasarana.[10]

Train movements

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Movement Date Time Service patterns Arafat
1 		Arafat
2 		Arafat
3 		Muzdalifah
1 		Muzdalifah
2 		Muzdalifah
3 		Mina
1 		Mina
2 		Mina
3
(Jamarat)
A 7
Dhu al-Hijjah 		04:00–24:00 Arafat <> Mina ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
A 8
Dhu al-Hijjah 		00:00–19:00 Arafat <> Mina ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
B 8
Dhu al-Hijjah 		20:00–24:00 Mina > Arafat ● ● ● ● ● ●
B 9
Dhu al-Hijjah 		00:00–10:00 Mina > Arafat ● ● ● ● ● ●
C 9
Dhu al-Hijjah 		Sunset–22:00 Arafat > Muzdalifah ● ● ● ● ● ●
D 9
Dhu al-Hijjah 		23:30–24:00 Muzdalifah > Mina
Group Shuttle 		Departure A Departure B Departure C Arrival A Arrival B Arrival C
D 10
Dhu al-Hijjah 		00:00–08:30 Muzdalifah > Mina
Group Shuttle 		Departure A Departure B Departure C Arrival A Arrival B Arrival C
E 10
Dhu al-Hijjah 		09:00–24:00 Mina > Muzdalifah > Arafat > Mina Stop 3 Stop 2 Departure Stop 1 Arrival
E 11
Dhu al-Hijjah 		00:00–24:00
02:00–04:00 		Mina > Muzdalifah > Arafat > Mina
Trains stop for maintenance 		Stop 3 Stop 2 Departure Stop 1 Arrival
E 12
Dhu al-Hijjah 		00:00–24:00
02:00–04:00 		Mina > Muzdalifah > Arafat > Mina
Trains stop for maintenance 		Stop 3 Stop 2 Departure Stop 1 Arrival
E 13
Dhu al-Hijjah 		00:00–18:00
02:00–04:00 		Mina > Muzdalifah > Arafat > Mina
Trains stop for maintenance 		Stop 3 Stop 2 Departure Stop 1 Arrival

Construction history

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The line was claimed to be the world's fastest design in the world, at 22 months, 16 months if religious habit is taken into consideration. It was initially operated at 35% capacity with automatic train protection to assist manual driving.[11]

China Railway Construction Corporation Limited was responsible for infrastructure construction and systems integration under the 6.7-billion-riyal phase I contract which was awarded by the Saudi Arabian government in February 2009 following a visit by President Hu Jintao of China.[12]

CRCC carried out construction of the project infrastructure and integrated and subcontracted various systems. The line was built in only 21 months by about 8,000 skilled and unskilled workers and approximately 5,000 engineers.

DBI (Deutsche Bahn International GmbH), a fully owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG and DAR Dar Al Handasah, were awarded with a contract from the Ministry of Municipalities and Rural Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to become the supervising engineers, responsible for design, construction, railway systems implementation and railway operations.

Several subcontracts were awarded. Al-Muruj Electromechanical Co. was awarded MEP works at all 9 stations. Siemens provided the overhead line catenary system supplied at 1500 V DC. Westinghouse Platform Screen Doors supplied the platforms with screen doors,[2][13] Siemens power supplies, and WS Atkins is responsible for electrical and mechanical systems and project management.[11] Thales supplied SelTrac Communications-Based Train Control, an operations control centre, CCTV, SCADA and passenger information systems.[11] Systra supervised the civil work.[11] Serco provides operations and maintenance consultancy. TÜV Rheinland were the Independent Competent Person (ICP) on the project and provided safety, operations, training, fire and systems assurance consultancy support including the development of System-Wide, O&M Safety Case and HSQE Management Systems. TÜV Rheinland also secured the Operating Licence and Safety Certificate for acceptance by the Saudi Railway Commission (SRC) in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Air conditioning solution was provided by SKM Sharjah, UAE.

The line is elevated at a height varying between 8 metres (26 ft) and 10 metres (33 ft).[14][11]

Although the current metro uses conventional steel wheel on rail technology, it is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a 'monorail' due to cancellation on planned project in 2009.[14]

CRCC losses on contract

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In November 2010 CRCC claimed they had lost 4.15 billion yuan (~US$600 million) on the US$1.77 billion contract due to changes insisted on by the client.[15] The earthworks alone reportedly increased two-and-a-half times from 2 million cubic metres to 5 million.[16] CRCC was seeking, with Chinese government support, extra compensation from the Saudi Arabian government to help cover the losses.[needs update]

Rolling stock

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The interior of CRRC Changchun Type A rolling stock

On 4 April 2009, CNR Changchun (now CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles) was awarded a contract to supply 17 Type A 12-car metro trainsets.[11] Each set has eight motor and four trailer cars, all with aluminium bodies. A Type A car is 22.3 metres long and 3 metres wide.[17] Knorr-Bremse supplied the braking systems[13] with modifications to suit sandy conditions. It also features 5 train doors per side.[2]

The first trainset was shipped from China in May 2010 and the last arrived by the end of 2010.[2]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The CRCC website says the trains have a capacity of 3,000 passengers (250 cars × 12 car trains) (http://meccametro.com/about-abu-dhabi-metro Archived 12 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine) but the analysis of the 2011 Hajj cites a figure of 3,600 passengers per train (12 × 300) and 30 trains per hour (120 second headway) (http://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/middle-east-rail/Data/dr-salim-albostapart3.pdf Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine). It is designed to transport 72,000 passengers per hour per direction (pphpd).

References

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  1. ^ a b "Hajj pilgrims take the metro to Makkah". Railway Gazette International. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Hajj trains shipped to Makkah". Railway Gazette International. 18 May 2010. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  3. ^ Barry, Keith (8 September 2009). "Take the Monorail to Mecca". Wired. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Operation during Hajj season 1432H (2011 G)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  5. ^ Mecca Metro – Information, Route Map, Fare & Timings
  6. ^ "Mecca Metro built by CRCC to be fully operated on Nov. 3". english.crcc.cn/. Archived from the original on 6 June 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  7. ^ "#Serco case study – Makkah Metro". totalrail.org. Archived from the original on 6 June 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  8. ^ "Prasarana to operate Makkah's pilgrim metro". railwaygazette.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Prasarana wins Makkah metro consultancy contract". railwaygazette.com. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  10. ^ "Hajj metro prepared for annual seven-day operating season". Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "Makkah metro contracts signed". Railway Gazette International. 24 June 2009. Archived from the original on 28 February 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  12. ^ "World rail market March 2009". Railway Gazette International. 8 March 2009. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  13. ^ a b "Knorr-Bremse in Mecca". Railways Africa. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  14. ^ a b "China to build Mecca monorail". Straits Times. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE. 12 February 2009. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  15. ^ An Yang (17 November 2010). "China to Help CRCC Claim Loss on Mecca Metro Project". CaixinOnline. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  16. ^ John Garnaut (16 November 2010). "China Inc goes off the rails in Saudi Arabia while building Mecca monorail". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  17. ^ Sharon Lee (11 May 2009). "CSR Zhuzhou: A Contract of 150 Metro Vehicles Valued RMB 1.1 Billion". Rednet.cn. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
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