Makkah monorail 'ready by 2011'

The Makkah Monorail project is expected to become fully operational before the commencement of Haj next year, while 35% of the project will be ready for pilgrims by the end of the present year, Arab News has reported. The rail network will initially link the holy sites to the Haramain Railway and other railway networks, and eventually to the Gulf Railway. The first part of the project that will be completed will be the line that begins from the southeast of Arafat, where most domestic and Gulf pilgrims converge, to Muzdalifah.