By Abdulaziz Ghazzawi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Authorities are racing against time to fix the partially burnt Haramain High Speed Rail station in the city’s Sulaymaniyah District.

Massive fire at the station on Sept. 29 has temporarily suspended movement of the trains on the Makkah-Jeddah-Madinah route.

Minister of Transport Dr. Nabil Al-Amoudi has recently said all restoration work will be completed in 30 days and the rail traffic will be brought to normal in due course of time.

Meanwhile, with station in Sulaymaniyah rendered inoperative, the new King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) station has become a major hub for those coming here to perform Umrah.

The Spanish company has started constructing a detour for the rail route to resume train trips between Makkah and Madinah. Work is going on at present in filling the area with soil before placing the sleepers on which the rail track will be fixed as well as transferring the electricity network from the previous rail route to this necessary detour to avoid Sulaymaniyah station.

Fortunately the fire did not reach the rail tracks or power systems of the rail, and this will make restoration of the services easier and also allow for the High Speed Rail to pass by the damaged station.

This step is being resorted to in order to speed up preparations for serving passengers heading to Makkah and Madinah.

The Haramain High Speed Train would resume its service within 30 days, using the new KAIA station to serve residents and visitors of Jeddah.

The train will operate between Makkah and Madinah via the KAIA and King Abdullah Economic City of Rabigh.

The Saudi government has ordered the setting up of several committees to probe into the causes of the massive fire that engulfed the Sulaymaniyah station.

The findings of the panels will be presented to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, Emir of Makkah Khaled Al-Faisal said after inspecting the effects of fire at the station a day after the tragedy.