Prince Khalid Al Faisal bin Abdul Aziz has said that the train which connects the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the holy sites operated at 35% of its capacity during the previous Hajj season and that it will be fully operational by the Hajj season 2011 .

The newspaper "Al-Watan" reported that Mr. Al Faisal had declared that the main target behind the use of the train "is to ensure the quick transport of pilgrims and to ease their transfer between Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina".

He pointed out to the fact that "the objective of the four central roads that connects the Grand Mosque with the four entry points of Mecca is to provide pedestrian paths to welcome the increased number of pilgrims, and to allocate special tracks for the common transport as well as buses and railways."

It is worth noting that the 2011 / 1432 Umrah season will  start by the end of January and that the Umrah service providers have already launched their early preparations and diffused their packages.