At 18:00 local time on June 19, Saudi Arabia, the 2024 operation task of the Mecca Light Rail in Saudi Arabia undertaken by China Railway Construction was successfully completed.
The Mecca Light Rail project is currently the world's largest rail transit project with the largest design capacity, the most complex operation mode and the heaviest tasks. Since 4 a.m. on June 13, in 7 days and 6 nights, Mecca has encountered extreme high temperatures, with an outdoor temperature of up to 51.8°C, and the project team has worked continuously for 158 hours, with a total operating mileage of more than 50,000 kilometers, a total of 2,206 trains and more than 2.094 million passengers.
Light rail operation scenario
This is also the 10th time that Layang, a 35-year-old Saudi employee of China Railway Construction, has participated in the operation of the project. "In 2010, I came here just after graduating from university, and I started as a station attendant on the project, and grew into a station manager, deputy manager, and manager, realizing my career development dream!" Layan said that during the years of working in Chinese enterprises, he not only achieved career development, but also learned technology and knowledge in the field of rail transit operation and maintenance, and became a technical backbone.
The Mecca Light Rail is the first light rail railway built by a Chinese company in the Middle East and the first light rail railway in Saudi Arabia, which was put into operation in November 2010. The total length of the line is 18.25 kilometers and there are 9 stations. Chinese enterprises attach great importance to the career development of local employees, carry out systematic vocational training and "China Mentor" mentoring activities, train about 60,000 foreign employees, and train more than 600 middle and senior technical talents.
A view of the operations command center
In order to cope with the extreme heat this year, the desert air-conditioning system of the station platform runs 24 hours a day, using water vapor evaporation to achieve the cooling effect, providing a suitable temperature and humidity for the platform. Chinese enterprises have also creatively combined the technical experience of China's railway "Spring Festival" operation and management with the operation needs of the Mecca light rail in Saudi Arabia, and formulated the five operation modes of ABCDE according to the relevant processes and passenger flow bands. For example, the busiest mode C, which will carry 310,000 passengers in 2024.
According to reports, the project team has also cooperated with more than 30 Chinese and foreign enterprises such as China Railway Beijing Bureau Group, Siemens, and Otis to establish an integrated operation system, driving China's industrial chain, supply chain, and service chain to go to sea, demonstrating the strength and style of Chinese enterprises.