The Desert Train / Haramain High Speed Railway

Enrique Pérez-Hernández et al.

ISBN: 978-84-120846-3-4

Year: 2020

Pages: 224

Illustrations: 94

Binding: in hardcover with cloth

Size: 30 x 24 cm

Published by: Madrid, El Viso Editions

A pillar of Saudi Arabian society and an inescapable feature in shaping its national history, it is home to the cities of Mecca, where Muhammad was born, and Medina, where he is buried. These cities were already obligatory stops for caravans since ancient times, but since the 7th century, they have hosted one of the essential practices in the individual and collective construction of the community of Islamic believers: the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. Some two and a half million people participate in the pilgrimage annually. To facilitate the travel of so many travelers, the government devised the construction of a high-speed line linking the two cities across the desert, a project of extraordinary magnitude and great technical complexity. The contract for this project went to a Spanish consortium. This book is the story of that journey, of that colossal project, and of the train that now traverses the sands of Arabia.