Saudi Arabia Railways and Hitachi Rail have signed a contract to revamp the Al Mashaaer Al Muqaddassah Metro, a Hajj line designed for about 72,000 passengers an hour per direction.

Hitachi Rail and Saudi Arabia Railways executives at the Hajj metro contract ceremony
Hitachi Rail and Saudi Arabia Railways executives at the contract ceremony. Photo: Hitachi Rail.

The 18-kilometre railway has nine stations and links Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat for pilgrims in the yearly pilgrimage season. In an announcement published by Hitachi Rail, the two companies say the work will target the system’s reliability and operating performance, as well as keeping its service sustainable over the long term.

The announcement names Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) chief executive Dr Bashar Al Malik and Carlo Piacenza, Hitachi Rail’s Signalling and Rail Solutions vice president for the Middle East and Africa, as the executives who will formally execute the contract. It describes the deal as a further step in a longstanding partnership between the two companies but does not detail their earlier work together.

Al Mashaaer Al Muqaddassah Metro in the 1447 AH Hajj season (2026)
Indicator 1447 AH Hajj season
Passengers carried More than 1.9 million
Trips operated 1,800
Days of operation 7, from 7 Dhu al-Hijjah until pilgrim movements ended after the Days of Tashreeq
Stations 9, in Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina

In its most recent Hajj season before the contract, the line carried more than 1.9 million passengers on 1,800 trips over seven days. Source: Saudi Arabia Railways figures published by the Pilgrims Experience Program, 30 May 2026.

SelTrac train control from Thales

The line’s train control was supplied by a business that Hitachi Rail has since bought. Thales states that its SelTrac communications-based train control solution has been delivered for the Al Mashaaer Al Muqaddassah Metro project in Mecca.

Hitachi Rail completed its €1,660 million purchase of Thales’ Ground Transportation Systems business on 31 May 2024, a deal after which most of its revenue comes from signalling and systems. The company now presents SelTrac as its own CBTC technology.

Hitachi Rail and SAR had already discussed the acquisition during InnoTrans 2024 in Berlin. According to SAR’s account of the meetings, the talks covered bringing new technologies into Saudi Arabia’s rail infrastructure and the potential of the Thales deal for future projects in the Kingdom.

An Al Mashaaer Al Muqaddassah Metro train running on elevated track in Makkah
An official SAR graphic shows an Al Mashaaer Al Muqaddassah Metro train on the elevated railway in Makkah. Graphic: Saudi Arabia Railways.

Contract value and schedule not disclosed

The announcement does not state the value of the contract, how long the work will take or which systems will be replaced or upgraded. It therefore does not confirm whether the revamp extends to the SelTrac train control.

SAR and Hitachi Rail present the project as support for Saudi Vision 2030 and for the Kingdom’s plans to improve transport for pilgrims during the Hajj.