Reuters/Jeddah


Saudi King Abdullah lays the foundation stone for a new expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah on Friday

Saudi Arabia has begun the biggest expansion yet of Islam’s holiest site, the Grand Mosque in Makkah, to raise its capacity to 2mn pilgrims, the state news agency SPA said.
“King Abdullah inaugurated in Makkah (on Friday) the start of the expansion... which is the largest of all previous expansions combined,” SPA said.
It did not say how much it will cost to add 400,000sq m to the mosque’s area or how long the project will take.
The expansion project will include pedestrian bridges as well as more shaded space to protect worshippers from the sun.
Saudi Arabia has invested billions of dollars in recent years in safety and comfort for the millions of pilgrims who flock to Makkah to fulfil their religious duties of Haj and Umrah.
A new railway, costing $1.8bn, was launched last year to link the holy sites around Makkah to ease pilgrim transport.
Another project, the high-speed Haramain Railway, will link the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah to the Red Sea port of Jeddah, an entry point for millions of pilgrims, to relieve road congestion.
The Saudi Railway Organisation is studying bids for the second and final phase of the Haramain Railway project, which includes the construction of tracks and installation of signal systems, as well as the procurement of rolling stock.
The announcement of the winning bidder is expected by October and negotiations are under way with a consortium that includes Spanish firms, pan-Arab Asharq Al Awsat newspaper reported yesterday, quoting unnamed sources.
The paper also said one consortium, which it did not identify, had bid 46.8bn riyals.