The contract to design four stations along a high-speed rail line linking Saudi Arabia’s holy cities of Makkah and Madinah has been awarded to Foster + Partners and Buro Happold joint venture.
The US $1.8 billion (SR6.7 billion) Haramain high-speed railway is a major infrastructure project to dramatically cut journey times between the cities from five hours by car to just half an hour.
Passing via Jeddah and the King Abdullah Economic City, the 450km rail line will be operated by high-speed trains, capable travelling up to 300km per hour.
Some three million pilgrims make the journey annually and this attractive alternative to the use of private vehicles will considerably lessen the impact these journeys have on the environment, Fosters + Partners said in a statement today.
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The architecture firm said all stations will share a common planning strategy; each will have a distinct identity that fits in with the respective cities they serve.
“The project will foster new social and cultural connections across the Kingdom’s western cities, and the design of the four new stations will support and symbolise this progressive approach,” said Mouzhan Majidi, Foster + Partners CEO.
The public areas – including platforms – will be environmentally controlled to improve passenger comfort and will have filtered natural daylight throughout.
Martin Walsh, project director at Buro Happold, said: “The innovative scalable modular approach to the design of the stations will enable the speedy delivery of high-quality station buildings – fast-track in every sense.”
The contract for the first phase of infrastructure work was awarded last month to China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC) along with two local firms including Al Arab Contracting. The firms are responsible for building ground and civil engineering works.
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FEATURED COMMENT
This gives the Saudis another excuse to have the thrill of over-speeding!