India’s Tata Steel has won a contract to supply 60,000 tonnes of rail for the Haramain high-speed railway project in Saudi Arabia.

The railway, which is being developed by the Saudi Railways Organisation (SRO), will run between the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the kingdom and also Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City.

Steel for the scheme will be made at Tata Steel’s Scunthorpe plant in the UK, before being rolled into rail in lengths of 25 metres both onsite and at the firm’s plant in Hayange in Northern France. The company did not disclose the value of the order.

The aim of the 444-kilometre railway, which will be able to run at speeds of up to 320km per hour, is to alleviate road traffic between Medina and Mecca, especially during the pilgrimage season.

Phase 1 of the project covered the construction of the track bed, bridges, embankments and cuttings. The contract was awarded in 2009 to Al-Rajhi Alliance, a consortium including Chinese and Saudi firms, with China Railway Engineering and France’s Alstom Transport.

Major deals under phase 2 of the scheme were awarded in 2011, with a largely Spanish consortium led by local firm Al-Shoula Group signing a $7.9bn contract for the construction work. The other members of the consortium included six Spanish companies: Talgo, Indra, OHL, Dimetronic, Renfe and Adif.

Phase 2 comprises the construction of the railway tracks, installation of signalling and telecommunications systems, electrification, construction of the operational control centre, the procurement of 35 trains, and the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the railway.

The new rail line is set to open to the public in late 2014 or early 2015.