The General Organization of Railways confirmed in press statements that the Haramain Railway Project will begin operations at the end of 2017, The project will be fully operational by late 2017, at which time the train will be capable of transporting 9,000 passengers per hour. The Corporation denied rumors circulating about the project becoming operational by the end of 2016, stating that they were untrue.
It is worth noting that the project, which is the largest railway project in the Kingdom, faced many difficulties that slightly delayed its opening after overcoming all the challenges and obstacles encountered by those in charge, most notably compensation and property expropriation, which totaled a total of 5,150 properties—including 1,600 occupied properties—with a value exceeding nine billion riyals, as well as other challenges that the Corporation was able to overcome, enabling the project to achieve record completion rates: 100% at the Madinah station, 100% at the Rabigh station, and 96% at the Jeddah station – and the Makkah station at 97%.
