Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal convened a meeting with the ministerial committee at his office in Jeddah yesterday regarding the draft of public transport in the region. The implementation of the project in Jeddah and Makkah has entered an advanced stage. The prince opened the meeting by expressing appreciation to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for the support he had given to public transport projects in the Kingdom, especially in Makkah. Among the attendees were the ministers of municipal and rural affairs and finance, the governor of Jeddah and the secretary of the Makkah and Holy Sites Development Authority. Based on the decision of the Council of Ministers that the state has to bear the cost of construction of public transport projects in cities, Prince Khaled signaled to the secretariats of the holy city and Jeddah to move forward with their respective projects. According to Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar, the first phase of the public transport project in the holy city includes the development of metro trains to service pilgrims, while the second phase concerns the development of a 60-km long bus rapid transit system as well as a local bus system servicing the Grand Mosque and areas not covered by the rail network. He also highlighted that the study included the development of a bus network (feeder buses) that feeds to the train stations. The buses will link the three stations and will have a frequency of 15 minutes, while trains will arrive on the tracks every 10 minutes. Arab News
