Phase I – (Package1)

The first phase of the project includes the route civil works and the passenger stations. This phase has been divided into two parts:

Package I: The first part represented in the civil works of the track which include the design and implementation of project infrastructure works such as roadway excavation, backfilling, preparing the ground, constructing bridges, culverts and tunnels for laying track

The following four Consortia submitted their bids for the route civil works Phase 1 –Package 1 of the project:

• Al-Rajhi Alliance
• Saudi Bin Ladin Group
• Saudi Oger Limited
• Saudi-Japanese Consortium

Awarding the contract of (Phase I- Package I - Civil Works) of HHR project.

The civil works contract (Phase I - Package I) of HHR has been awarded to Al–Rajhi Alliance. His Excellency Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdul Aziz Al-Assaf, Minister of Finance, Chairman of PIF board of directors and His Excellency Dr. Jobarah Al-Seraisry, Minister of Transport, Chairman of SRO board of directors, as representatives of the Government of Saudi Arabia signed the contract of (6,785,831,152 SAR) with Al–Rajhi Alliance for the civil works construction of the Haramain High Speed Rail (HHR) project. The duration of the project implementation was 36 months and the scheduled completion date of the project was on April 5, 2012, but some of the works has been recently added with a total value of 3,980,659,886 SAR and the implementation duration of the project has been extended up to December 31, 2014.

About the Civil Works:

The path of the train is going through different terrain where the plains are paved, the rocks are cut and low-lying areas and valleys are filled for the implementation of bridges and camel crossings. The train path begins in Makkah as the first station at Al Zharrin area on the suspension bridge of 1600 meters at K 2 at Housing district. It continues to intersect with the Jeddah-Makkah Highway at Km 30 area in Al Shumaisi district, where it passes on a bridge of 170 m till Bahra as there are several bridges for the train to enter Jeddah at Abroq Al Rugahamh area from the east via a suspension bridge of 700 meters. Further taking the train to the west, at the interchange of King Abdullah to enter Jeddah station at Al-Sulaimaniyah, and then to get out from the station on the suspension bridge of 2550 meters to enter the median of Haramain Road after the Palestine Interchange. It continues through the interchanges of Al Tahlia, Briman, KAIA, Air Defense, Air Base and Hajj Terminal which are rebuilt to accommodate the new clearance heights of 7.5 m.

The Interchanges of Hajj Terminal and Air Base have been implemented and opened for the traffic, and the work is currently underway on the Interchange of air defense which is four bridges and a tunnel. It is expected to be completed within 10 months. In addition to, the work is underway on the Interchanges of Al Tahlia and Briman to implement the parts of precast concrete and the traffic detour to Briman until the conversion of traffic and the demolition of bridges which are to be rebuilt.

The train path is heading back to the east through a suspension bridge of 1550 meters towards the Usfan area, then to Bethol and Dhahban to Rabigh as it crosses with Rabigh - Al Madinah Road heading to the KAEC at km 181 and then to Al Madinah through Balaekhal, Wadi Al Fare’ and Al Mashy Abyaar, where it enters the median of the third ring Road in Al Madinah via a tunnel of 550 meters at km 433. The train continues in the median through the Interchanges of Quba and Ali ibn Abi Talib. The work is currently going on for constructing these two Interchanges to connect the roads of Quba and Ali ibn Abi Talib with the third ring road, till it enters Madinah Station at km 449 on a bridge passing over Al Qassim Road.

The following is a summary of the work in each Makkah and Madinah areas:

Makkah Region (from km 2 up to km 276)

Bridges:

There are 103 bridges with a total estimated length of 31,000 m. The Work is currently underway on 54 bridges, and 10 bridges were completed.

Cut and Filling:

About 35 million cubic meters of cut out of 39 million cubic meters have been implemented on the path of the train, (about 90%).

About 20 million cubic meters of filling out of 36 million cubic meters have been implemented on the path of the train, (about 55%).

:Drainage Culverts and Services

The total number of Culverts in Makkah about 571 culverts, of which 512 is for the disposal of water, 50 culverts for services, 8 for cars, and 1 for pedestrian.

• Fully implemented culverts = 154
• Under construction = 47

Madinah Area (from km 276 to km 449)

Bridges:

There are 33 bridges with a total estimated length of 4,600 m. The Work is currently underway on 26 33 bridges, and 7 bridges were completed.

Cut and Filling:

About 12 million cubic meters of cut out of 14 million cubic meters have been implemented on the train path (about 86%).

About 12 million cubic meters of filling out of 25 million cubic meters have been implemented on the path of the train, (about 48%).

Drainage Culverts and Services:

The total number of Culverts in Madinah are about 268 culverts, of which 230 is for the disposal of water, 50 culverts for Services, 8 for cars and 1 for pedestrian (does not add up to 268)

• Fully implemented culverts = 164
• Under construction = 47

As for the delivery of the project, it will be phased as follows:

• 3 Camel crossings
• 1 Road Bridge
• 1 Wadi Bridge
• 97 drainage Culverts
• 4 Car culverts
• Filling: 22 million cubic meters
• Cutting: 9 million cubic meters
• 57 bridges for the future services under the path of the train with a total length of 11,600 LM.

Photos of ongoing work progress on site: