Challenges overcome

In addition to the Mecca Metro, another railway construction project in Saudi Arabia has been completed by CCRC, despite the challenges of building a high-speed railway in desert conditions.

With a total length of 450 km and a top speed of 360 km per hour, the Haramain High Speed Railway, aka the Mecca-Medina railway, runs through four cities — Mecca, Rabigh, Jeddah and Medina — providing services for more than 15 million passengers annually, according to statistics from the Hainan University Belt and Road Research Institute.

As the world's first high-speed railway to cross a desert, the facility was completed after numerous challenges were overcome, including laying solid foundations in a desert region, harsh weather — such as frequent sandstorms and extreme temperatures — and a shortage of skilled workers.

"This is the third rail project we have built in Saudi Arabia. Previously, we built the Saudi Arabia North-South Railway and the Mecca Light Rail. During seven years of construction of the Mecca-Medina high-speed railway, we have trained more than 400 local technical workers, hired over 1,000 local workers and created more than 1,500 job opportunities," said Chen Debin, a project manager with the China Railway 18th Bureau Group in the Mecca-Medina project.

"We have not only exchanged engineering and technical expertise, but we have also established many deep friendships with the local people."

Luo Wangshu contributed to this story.

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