MAKKAH Municipality is to develop a new urban rail transit system for the Saudi holy city and is expected to invite expressions of interest for the project shortly.

The Makkah Mass Rail Transit (MMRT) project will involve the construction of four rail lines – A, B , C and D – in stages.

Stage One will involve construction of lines B and C. Line B will be 10 km long with six new stations and be mainly underground. It will be an extension of the existing Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah line, serving the holy shrines of Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina, and connecting to the new Haramain High Speed rail station west of Makkah city. Line C will be 29 km long with 14 new stations and will be built in a combination of tunnels and viaducts. The other two lines, A and D, will be constructed at future stages.

AlBalad AlAmeen Company (BAC), the municipality’s development arm, is leading the project and is working with advisors Ernst & Young, Ashurst, and Parsons Brinckerhoff to develop procurement packages for Stage One. It is expected that Stage One will be split into several packages with PPP (private-public partnerships) contracts being the preferred option for some or all packages. Construction is expected to start by 2013 with the commencement of services by 2017.