Amal Al-Sibai

Saudi Gazette

 

THE occasion of the National Holiday is a good time to look back at the past year, to bask in praise at the country’s achievements, to evaluate progress and development, and on the other hand, to examine where we stand with a critical eye; spotting the areas that need further improvement.



The degree of advancement of a nation can be measured by the efficiency of its public transport network systems.



Looking at Switzerland for example, it has one of the best transport systems in the world. According to Ahmad Al-Shugairi, in Switzerland there are a total of 26,000 metro stations to help people move around and to connect cities with one another. The metro reaches all parts of the country. Even a miniscule village in a remote area with a meager population of 1,800 has a metro stopping in it. At a typical metro station in a larger city like Zurich, the metro passes through it 2,000 times a day; meaning a train passes by every 4 seconds.



The absence of a good public transport system in Saudi Arabia has a number of negative ramifications on the natural environment and the safety, health, and quality of life of the nation’s people.



Alarmingly, in a study published by Nielson Company, Saudi Arabia was found to follow right after the United States in the ratio of cars to people.



Saudi Arabia has the second highest car ownership in the world, which raises several urgent health and environmental concerns. Emissions from cars and trucks contribute to global warming, erratic climate changes, and have been linked to an increase in the incidence of asthma, chronic bronchitis, other pulmonary disorders, and cancer in the Kingdom in recent years.



Underground subway systems and the modern railway technologies above the ground operate on electric railways, without burning any fuel. These trains do not emit exhaust fumes into the air; making them environmentally friendly, but the benefits of these railways go well beyond that point. If society relied on these transport systems for personal travel and for transporting commodities between cities, the metro will in effect remove a substantial number of cars and cargo trucks from the Kingdom’s roads; thus directly reducing air pollution.



“Realizing the immense value that rail transport adds to the national economic, social, environmental, and tourism development, the Saudi government has adopted the funding of several colossal projects that the Saudi Railway Organization will carry out. These initiatives include major expansion projects to connect the Western region of the Kingdom with the Eastern region, the Northern with the Central, and to link the holy cities. The Saudi Railway Organization is working diligently to turn the wise strategic vision of our government into reality, because we understand and can actually see the abundant benefits our nation will reap from it,” said Mohamed Khaled Al-Suwaiket, president of the Saudi Railway Organization (SRO).



Safety: Railway accidents and related injuries and deaths are much lower than those associated with car accidents. A 2010 report by the General Directorate of Traffic has revealed that an average of 17 Saudi Arabian residents die on the country’s roads each day. The World Health Organization has reported that Saudi Arabia has the world’s highest number of deaths from road accidents, which make up the country’s principal cause of death in adult males aged 16 to 36.



Capacity: The goal of a good transport system is to make use of limited space and maximize the number of people traveling on a given road. Studies were conducted to compare how many people could travel on the same road in a single hour using different transportation methods. In one hour, using the same road, cars could transport 2,000 people, buses 9,000, and metro trains 100,000.



Alleviating traffic congestion: Trains could be the solution to the bottleneck traffic that plagues big cities and also the highways leading in and out of the holy cities which become heavily congested, especially during Ramadan and the Haj season. Trains can carry more passengers and goods and they circumvent the busy streets, which means less cars and trucks on the roads and as a result, reduced traffic congestion, less time wasted, less accidents, and less pollution.



Comfort and convenience: Trains offer passengers more comfort and speed of arrival at the desired destination than any other mode of ground transport. It is expected that the Haramain train will enable passengers to reach from Madinah to Jeddah in just two hours and from Jeddah to Makkah in half an hour.



The trains will no doubt boost the tourism sector as travel will be easier, more comfortable, and cost effective within the Kingdom.



“The most prominent public transportation project that the government has decided to implement is the Haramain railway, which will be a high speed electric-rail double line, approximately 450 km long between Madinah and Makkah, passing through King Abdullah Economic City and Jeddah. The trains will be fully equipped with the latest technologies in signaling, communication, and safety systems.”



“The project includes the construction of five passenger stations in each of central Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport, Makkah, Madinah, and King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh. The train stations are epic in their aesthetic architectural design and they will provide spacious parking lots and bus stops, entertainment, shopping, and dining options, rest areas, and a mosque,” said Al-Suwaiket to the Saudi Gazette.



The primary purpose of the Haramain railway is to better serve the pilgrims who gravitate towards the holy cities from distant parts of the world. The train will help facilitate the visit between Makkah and Madinah, which pilgrims consider to be one of the most important and heartfelt components of their pilgrimage, for both Umrah and Haj. The SRO estimates that the trains will carry more than 3 million passengers each year between the two sacred cities. With an expected annual growth rate of 1.41% in the numbers of Umrah pilgrims and 3.14% in Haj pilgrims, the trains are necessary to accommodate the travel needs for this increase in pilgrims.



“Working on the ground for the implementation of the Haramain railway started in March, 2009 and much has been accomplished. A total of 138 bridges on the Haramain highway have been demolished and are being reconstructed to allow the passage of the train. According to our calculations, the first passenger train on the Haramain railway will be ready for trial by the end of the year 2014,” said Al-Suwaiket to the Saudi Gazette.



The Haramain railway project is very promising and several phases of its construction have been completed.



However, residents are also demanding reliable public transport systems inside the Kingdom’s crowded cities to ease the trouble on their daily road trips to work and schools which are causing a sharp elevation in blood pressure readings and stress levels for all of us.



Some Saudis are skeptical and others are taking a ‘let’s wait and see approach’ to the recent news that a strategic master plan is being rolled out for a metro in Riyadh, both underground and over ground that will fan out across the city like a spider web, covering a total of 176 km. The Riyadh metro is scheduled to be completed before the end of 2019.