Tourism & Hospitality | Sunday 3 June, 2018 6:29 am |

The Haramain high-speed train service offered first free trip to citizens on Friday. More than 200 citizens traveled from Madinah to Makkah on the Haramain Express’ test journey.

Nabil Al-Amoudi, transport minister and the chairman of the General Transport Authority, accompanied the citizens on the historic train journey.

Before departing for their destination, passengers took a tour of the station, which included the departure and arrival lounge, VIP lounge, mosque, civil defense center, a helipad, platforms and parking lots with a capacity of 1,000 vehicles.

Citizens were excited to embark on the journey and expressed their joy over this great achievement. Tarek Al-Qahtani, one of the passengers, told Saudi Press Agency that he was impressed by the new service and the courteous staff comprising young Saudi men and women. Many citizens expressed hope that the new service would change the travel culture in the Kingdom for the better.

Fatima Mohammed felt proud of this national achievement, which she said would help serve the visitors to the Prophet’s Mosque and Madinah residents in a better way.

Badreyah Sultan noted that the Kingdom has been witnessing great development in all spheres of life and this train project is part of those uplift programs.