Saudi Arabia to get high speed rail

http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20111117-the-futurist-saudi-arabia-to-get-high-speed-rail

A high speed rail link between Saudi Arabia’s holy cities of Mecca and Medina, which is set to be completed by late 2012, will cut a several-hour-long bus journey down to a two–hour train ride, particularly easing pilgrimage traffic during the Hajj, which usually takes place in November, and during Ramadan, which takes place in late summer.

The 450km Haramain High Speed Rail line will have five stations: Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) and at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport. Saudi Railways has separate plans for a less speedy connection to Riyadh called the Land Bridge, which will carry freight as well as passengers.

Four of the five high speed rail stations will be built by architects Foster and Partners and Buro Happold, and last month, the 6.7 billion euro contract to construct the high speed rail and provide 35 trains was awarded to a Spanish-Saudi consortium. The trains are expected to run at speeds of 320kph and carry 166,000 passengers a day.

The timeline for the project could change, as the Saudi government recently revealed that 90% of the buildings that need to be expropriated to make way for the rail line have unknown owners. The search for these landlords might delay the project.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foster_and_Partners

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Foster_(architect)

Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM (born 1 June 1935) is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice, Foster + Partners.

Foster was raised in Manchester in a working-class family and was intrigued by design and engineering from a young age. His years observing Mancunian architecture subsequently influenced his works, and was inspired to pursue a career in Architecture after a treasurer clerk noticed his tendency to sketch and venture around Manchester to view buildings while he worked at Manchester Town Hall.

Foster managed to gain an internship at a local architects office before submitting a portfolio for a place at the University of Manchester School of Architecture. He won a place at Manchester and then won a scholarship to continue his studies at the Yale School of Architecture in the United States.

Foster returned to the United Kingdom in 1963 and set up his own practice, Team 4 before changing its name to Foster + Partners. His breakthrough building was arguably the Willis Building in Ipswich in 1975 and has since gone on to design landmark structures such as the new Wembley Stadium and 30 St Mary Axe. His buildings has made him one of Britain’s most prolific architects of his generation. In 2009 Foster was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award in the Arts category.

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high speed rail..the buzz word of decade..i guess you gotta move those pilgrims quickly..but doesnt that only happen once a year?..so what do the trains do in the other 11 months?

fosters and partners are big movers..they made the beehive building in london and many others..yale graduate..uh huh

401

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~ by seeker401 on November 23, 2011.