Saudi Arabia's $13bn Haramain High-Speed Rail linking Mecca and Medina will enter partial commercial operation on 1 October, with King Salman expected to inaugurate the service on 25 September, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

It is understood the service will offer scheduled weekly trips from four of the five stations on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

There will be eight trips, four each way, for each of those days between 1 October and 31 December, according to Rumaih al-Rumaih, Public Transport Authority (PTA) chairman and Saudi Railways Organisation (SRO) acting president.

The frequency of trips is expected to increase in 2019.

Trial runs on the 450-kilometre line began in 2017 but the official opening of the service was delayed several times.

The 35 trains on the rail line are expected to carry 60 million passengers a year once it enters full operations.

Transport Minister Nabil al-Amoudi said the train service would enable a “multifold increase” in the number of pilgrims and visitors to the kingdom’s two holiest cities.

The scheme is the Gulf region’s first high-speed rail service with trains capable of running up to 300 kilometres-per-hour (kph).

Construction of the rail began in 2009, when SRO awarded the civil works contract for the scheme to a consortium led by local firm Al-Rajhi Construction.

Two years later, a second package covering the construction of passenger stations in Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) was awarded to a team of local firms, Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) and Saudi Oger; while another package for the construction of passenger stations in Mecca and Medina was awarded to a team comprising SBG and Turkey’s Yapi Merkezi.

Spanish/local consortium Al-Shoula Group won the $8.2bn contract for phase 2 of the project in 2011.

Spanish companies that are part of the Al-Shoula consortium include:

• Adif / Renfe: 12-year operation and maintenance
• OHL / Copasa / Imathia: track construction and maintenance
• Inabensa / Cobra: electrification and electro-mechanical equipment
• Talgo: rolling stock
• Dimetronic (recently acquired by Siemens): signalling
• Indra: ancillary and control systems including intrusion detection and ticketing

Haramain High-Speed Rail has five stations including two terminals in Mecca and Medina. The other three stations are located in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), the King Abdulaziz International airport and Jeddah.

MEED understands six electricity feeder stations have been also constructed along the route to provide the required power to run the high-speed train. The project’s civil and earthworks comprises the construction of 130 bridges and 850 water channels.