Thales scores EUR 103m contract for Mecca metro
(RIYADH) - French group Thales said on Wednesday it has won a 103 million euro (144 million dollar) contract to supply train control and communications systems for a new metro railway in Mecca.
The contract was awarded by China Railway Construction Corp, which is building the 20-kilometre (12.5 mile) light rail system in the Muslim holy city, Thales said in a statement.
Thales will furnish the new system with a driverless train control system as well as the communications infrastructure for running the trains and administering the system.
The Mecca metro is scheduled to be up and running in time for the hajj pilgrimage in November 2010.
The system is designed to alleviate transportation pressures from the hajj, during which close to two million people descend on the western Saudi city during a two-week period each year.
The trains, designed to carry 72,000 passengers per hour in each direction direction, will be driverless and run from a central control station, though an attendant will be on board.
"The new award in Saudi Arabia follows the North-South railway contract won in April 2009 and reinforces Thales's presence in the Middle East," said Alan Delecroix, Thales regional director for security solutions and services, in the statement.
When completed, the Mecca network is should be the second metro system in Gulf Arab countries after the Dubai metro, which is scheduled to start operations in September.
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