Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, is currently in Riyadh on a three-day tour, during which the deal was announced.
A 230mph rail link between Mecca and Medina will cut the four to five hour-long car journey between Islam's two holiest cities to just half an hour.
In particular, the train will help alleviate congestion during the Hajj, the obligatory annual mass pilgrimage of three million worshippers to Mecca. In the past, the crush of worshippers has resulted in some pilgrims being trampled to death.
"This train will be able to rapidly evacuate the crowd at the peak of the Hajj," said Yang Honglin, the Chinese ambassador to Saudi Arabia, adding that the line will have a maximum capacity of five million people a year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...lway-for-Muslim-pilgrims-in-Saudi-Arabia.html
A 230mph rail link between Mecca and Medina will cut the four to five hour-long car journey between Islam's two holiest cities to just half an hour.
In particular, the train will help alleviate congestion during the Hajj, the obligatory annual mass pilgrimage of three million worshippers to Mecca. In the past, the crush of worshippers has resulted in some pilgrims being trampled to death.
"This train will be able to rapidly evacuate the crowd at the peak of the Hajj," said Yang Honglin, the Chinese ambassador to Saudi Arabia, adding that the line will have a maximum capacity of five million people a year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...lway-for-Muslim-pilgrims-in-Saudi-Arabia.html
