Haramain High-Speed Railway transports highest number of passengers in a single day since its launch

Haramain High-Speed Railway serves worshippers, Umrah and Hajj pilgrims year-round, connecting Makkah and Madinah. (SPA)
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Updated 26 March 2025
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Haramain High-Speed Railway transports highest number of passengers in a single day since its launch

  • Railway serves worshippers, Umrah and Hajj pilgrims year-round
  • SAR has gradually increased the number of trips to reach 130 a day during the last 10 days of Ramadan

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Haramain High-Speed Railway has transported the highest number of passengers in a single day since its inauguration in 2018.

The Saudi Railway Company reported transporting about 48,000 passengers in a single day on the 15th of Ramadan.

Since the beginning of Ramadan in March, average daily ridership has surpassed 39,000 passengers, showing a strong demand for the Haramain services as the quickest way to reach Makkah.

The railway serves worshippers, Umrah and Hajj pilgrims year-round, connecting Makkah and Madinah and passing through Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport and King Abdullah Economic City.

The SAR has gradually increased the number of trips since the start of Ramadan, reaching 130 trips a day during the last 10 days to accommodate Umrah performers, worshippers and visitors to the holy sites.

SAR has adjusted train schedules to align with peak times for worshippers and visitors during Ramadan and has provided additional lounges at the Madinah station to enhance the travel experience.

The railway operates on a 453-km electric line and ranks among the top 10 fastest trains in the world, with an operational speed of up to 300 km/h, the Saudi Press Agency reported.


Saudi, Pakistan defense chiefs discuss ‘measures needed to halt’ Iranian attacks on Kingdom

Updated 07 March 2026
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Saudi, Pakistan defense chiefs discuss ‘measures needed to halt’ Iranian attacks on Kingdom

RIYADH: Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Pakistan’s  Chief of Defense Forces Asim Munir discussed Iran’s attacks on the Kingdom, amid the escalating military conflict in the Middle East. 

“We discussed Iranian attacks on the Kingdom and the measures needed to halt them within the framework of our Joint Strategic Defense Agreement,” Prince Khalid wrote on social media early on Saturday.

“We stressed that such actions undermine regional security and stability and expressed hope that the Iranian side will exercise wisdom and avoid miscalculation.”

The US and Israel began a large-scale military campaign against Iran on Feb. 28. Iran has since attacked a number of sites across the Gulf.

Tehran has also attacked US and Israeli military assets as the war as escalated, impacting lives in the peaceful Arabian Gulf peninsula and risked shaking the global economy as Iran continued restricting energy shipping along the Strait of Hormuz.

The Saudi Defense Ministry said a number of drones had been shot down that were targeting the Shayba oil field in the Empty Quarter on Saturday.

A drone attacked the US embassy in Riyadh on Tuesday causing a minor fire, but no one was hurt in the incident.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement”  in September, pledging that aggression against one country would be treated as an attack on both.

Separately, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, the Saudi interior minister, received a call from his Pakistani counterpart Raza Naqvi, who condemned the blatant attacks targeting the Kingdom and affirmed his country’s solidarity in confronting any threats to the Kingdom’s security and stability, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.