Compensation will soon be paid to those citizens who had their properties acquired to make way for the Makkah train station of the Haramain Train project, according to a member of the city's Property Estimation Committee. Homes had been cleared from a 400,000 sq. meter site for the Makkah railway station in Al-Zaharain District near the entrance of Umm Al-Qura University. The member said the contractor has started removing properties at the second train station in Jeddah east of the Old Airport area. The station will be constructed on an area of 900,000 sq. meters. The second part of the Haramain Train project includes construction of four stations in Jeddah, Makkah, Madina and one in King Abdullah Economic City. The engineering designs of the stations were carried out by Foster and Partners. A station will have a main building, departure and arrival terminals, a mosque, a Civil Defense center, a helipad, 10 platforms for trains and passengers, parking lots, and a VIP section. There will also be shops, restaurants and coffee shops. The stations will be linked to public transportation, as there are areas for the parking of buses. He said the number of station workers will be determined after the completion of the projects. Abdulaziz Al-Huqail, President of the Saudi Railway Organization, said the organization has handed over most of the station sites to contractors. The rest will be transferred as soon as property issues (acquisition and compensation) are completed. Al-Huqail said the technical design for the route includes 153 bridges and 645 culverts of various sizes. He pointed out that the SRO is continuing its coordination with the regions' emirates, governorates, mayoralties and traffic departments that would be served by the project. In addition, the SRO also coordinates its work with other service organizations and corporations like the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), Saudi Aramco and the Saudi Electricity Company. He confirmed that the project is being carried out according to the highest standards and specifications and all its phases are being reviewed meticulously by the consultant supervising the project. __
