The SRO has already presented documents related to the project’s technical conditions to the four consortia and the first phase of the project will be implemented shortly.

“A technical team at the organisation will review the bids to select the winner of the contract within two months after receiving the offers,” the SRO said in an official statement on Wednesday..

Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry commended SRO’s technical and legal experts for their efforts in preparing the documents for the tender. “It was an important step toward implementing the project,” he said.

Al Seraisry said the documents covered all agreements and conditions to be followed by parties involved in the project. The railway will pass by King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.

Highlighting the profitability of the project, he  said the Makkah-Madinah Railway Link (MMRL) would make SR500 million by 2010. The link is part of a major railway expansion programme that involves the construction of 950 km of new tracks between Riyadh and Jeddah and a 115 km line linking Dammam and Jubail.

The MMRL includes the construction of 450 km of high-speed electrified railway lines between Jeddah and Makkah and between Jeddah and Madinah. The railway will be equipped with advanced signaling and telecommunications systems.

The MMRL, which is designed to operate trains with a speed of over 300 km per hour, would reduce travel time between Jeddah and Makkah to 30 minutes and between Jeddah and Madinah to two hours.

The second part of the first phase includes building of stations while the project’s second phase comprises establishment of railway tracks, signalling and communication systems, import of carriages, operation and maintenance.

“We have already finalised the route for the rail project and identified the locations for stations in Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah,” Al-Seraisry said, and added that  the project would improve the quality of public transport in the kingdom.

habib@khaleejtimes.com