Chinese light rail delivers 2.4 mln trips in Mecca for Hajj pilgrims

Two pilgrims give thumbs up to the fast and convenient services of the Meacca light rail trains in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Aug. 11, 2019. (Xinhua/Dong Liwei)

China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), operator of the Mecca light rail in the Hajj season in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, completed this year's pilgrimage transport service on Wednesday.

During the seven-day operation, the total operation time of Mecca light rail was 156 hours, and more than 2.4 million trips were delivered safely and accurately.

Li Chongyang, the vice general manager of CRCC, told Xinhua that the light rail system originally planned to run 1,718 trains and actually ran 2,214 trains.

The pilgrims from all over the world were transported safely and smoothly in the Hajj season that lasted five days from Aug. 9 according to the Islamic calendar.

The CRCC won the bidding of the Mecca light rail project in 2009, and provided service for over 15 million trips in 2010-2014. In 2018, CRCC won the light rail operation contract again, and successfully completed the pilgrimage operation task.

This year, the Saudi government gave the operating contract worth 103 million U.S. dollars to the CRCC, and signed a memorandum of cooperation for the next five years with the CRCC.