The Haj - The Long Awaited, Short Journey (By Train)

The area for tents in Mina has decreased by 30 percent this year due to the various ongoing construction projects, including the SR6.5 billion Mashair Railway (Makkah Metro). 
Thus it has limited the number of Haj pilgrims - 1.75 foreign and 250,000 locals - although every year, 3.5 million people would perform their Haj.

Eidul Adha will fall on November 16.

210,000 Indonesians will be performing their Haj this year, followed by the Indians and the Pakistanis, at 160,000 each, 100,300 pilgrims from Iran and 100,000 from Turkey.

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More than 150,000 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries will use the facility during the first phase as these pilgrims account for 73 percent of domestic pilgrims and it will help to withdraw about 53,000 buses and other vehicles being used by pilgrims coming by land from within the kingdom and neighboring GCC countries.
780,000 pilgrims from Iran, Turkey, Europe, Australia, US and those from non-Arab African countries will also be using the facility.

The system will enable to ferry 70,000 pilgrims between the holy places within an hour or at least 500,000 within six to eight hours.




The railway will reduce the time it takes for pilgrims to move from Arafah to Muzdalifah to five minutes on the 9th of Dzulhijjah.
It will also take pilgrims five minutes to move from Muzdalifah to Mina on the 10th.
About 20 percent of passengers will be seated and 20 percent of seats in the train will be allocated for the elderly while it moves at between 80 and 120 km/hour.

Nine stations had been constructed in Arafah, Mina and Muzdalifah, each having its own three stations.
The railway which would be operating throughout the year will have 12 carriages and each carriage holding 250 passengers.

The system would be developed further to transport three million pilgrims in the future and would bring about remarkable improvements in the transportation of pilgrims between the holy sites.

1,000 Egyptian drivers will operate the electric trains of the Mashair Railway.

These drivers are from more than 27,000 Egyptians employed specially for the Haj season, whom among them are veterinary doctors, bus drivers and butchers that had been recruited as seasonal workers - selected from 50,000 Egyptians' applicants.
This year, 80,000 pilgrims are from Egypt.

Foreign workers are imported because only a few hundred Saudis responded to advertisements that had been up for several months.

Mashair Railway will help reduce the number of vehicles on the road and ease the transportation of some 35 - 50 percent of 2010's Haj pilgrims.
The restriction on small vehicles entering Mecca and the holy sites called for stopping illegal vehicles carrying pilgrims at the first checkpoint to reduce pressure on the main checkpoint.

Studies are now underway on extending the monorail to a station on Umm Al-Qura Road, close to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and link it with the Haramain Railway that connects the two holy cities of Mecca and Madinah.
It will also be linked to the Haramain Railway that will connect Mecca to Madinah and Jeddah.

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The Saudi government is taking all efforts to make this year's Haj to be hassle-free and smooth movement of pilgrims to the Jamrahs is top in the agenda.

Instructions are given and measures are taken to stop illegal pilgrims from squatting in public places which had been one of the key factor in previous Mina's stampede and trampling.

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The monorail project which was implemented by a group of companies led by China Railway Company saw 1,600 of Chinese employed by the company converted to Islam in September.

The Government Islamic Guidance Centre in Makkatul Mukarramah said all the converts are workers in the train project that was launched three years ago.

“The Centre held a reception for nearly 1,600 Chinese who embraced Islam and gave them token gifts on the occasion of Eid al Fitr,” Al Madina daily said.
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The Taxi Story - Charging Not The Fair Fare

Rouge cabbies not using meters  was highlighted by the New Straits Times last week.

Last year, taxi fare had been raised from RM2.50 to RM3.00 because of rising costs and a "no haggling, this is a metered taxi" campaign was launched in July this year. Drivers are to follow the more stringent guidelines introduced by the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board in February.
Despite all steps taken, many errant taxi drivers still refuse to use meters.

In an undercover operation conducted by the board, despite continued measures to curb the menace,  only 15 of 627 taxis  were found to be following regulations.
Referring to  a letter published in The Star,  local public transport is ranked one of the worst, if not the worst, in the world is not without reason.
Rouge drivers not only fleece innocent and hapless passengers but also bring much inconvenience and stress to all concerned.

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It was June 2009 and my siblings with their families usually celebrated Father's Day in JB as My Husband's and Children's birthday falls on June 19, 26 and July 3 respectively - all 7 days apart. 

My sister, not wanting to trouble us, decided on taking a cab from the new CIQ to Tebrau City, which is about 13km away. 

They were required to pay RM20 at the taxi booth first before the journey. The driver, with his taxi meter running, asked for the fare of RM20, as was on the meter. 

When we met, they related of their new experience of having to pay twice for one ride. I wasn't sure of the rules then, with the new regulation. 

Only after the family's second trip to the shopping mall again, that they knew they were being double-charged.

The expectation out of a taxi driver and the cost of getting public transport becomes unpredictable. 
We never quite know  the final cost  of getting from one place to another where we do not expect this to happen.

While there are many rogue taxi drivers, there are also many good and kind cabbies too.
A few drivers I met, while sitting in their cabs, keep reminding me the chances of meeting a rouge driver is more when taking a cab opposite the mosque in Larkin market compared to taking a cab in front of the market itself.

Then, there is an almost 100% chance of meeting these rouge drivers when taking a cab parked nearby the Larkin bus exit.

How about a rewarding or demeriting drivers for passengers to give feedback once they alight the cab. Feasible?

Well, undisciplined taxi drivers is not local issue.
It's everywhere.

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June 1, 2010 - Cabbie Swallows Taxi-Meter Device

A taxi driver swallowed a small, taxi-meter device used to illegally cheat on fares after he was stopped for a routine check outside the World Expo site by the traffic authority in Shanghai, China
Huang Xiaoyong, official of the Shanghai Urban Communications Administration Bureau, said the driver who was not identified, was taken for investigation after the incident on Sunday.

If the driver had installed the device, he will be stripped of his license.
The incident happened at a check last week outside the Expo Site in the Pudong New Area. It was recorded in a local TV news report.
When the driver was asked to get out his car for the check, he suddenly tore down the little motor on the meter and swallowed it, astonishing everyone at the scene.
Officers soon caught the man but failed to get the device out by holding him down. The driver even wet himself when caught by the officers, witnesses said.
Wu Runyuan, a Shanghai traffic law enforcement team official, said the installation of a little motor on the meter was a common trick for cabbies to overcharge passengers.
With the little device the driver can easily cheat on taxi fares.
But Wu said the practice was banned and that a cabbie's license will be revoked if caught. - The Star

The Train Is Coming (To Mecca)

A Makkah Metro train during a test run. (AN photo)

30-Day Test Run For Makkah Metro
JEDDAH: The newly established Mashair Railway, which links the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa with Makkah, will have a 30-day test run before opening to transport domestic and GCC pilgrims during the upcoming Haj season.

Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Prince Mansour bin Miteb will inspect the railway (also known as the Makkah Metro) on Tuesday to make sure the facility is ready to transport the guests of God. The railway will bring about a dramatic change in pilgrim transportation between the holy sites.
Established at a cost of SR6.5 billion, the new railway will have a capacity to transport 72,000 pilgrims in an hour. Nine stations have been constructed in Arafat, Mina and Muzdalifa, each having three stations. This is the second largest project implemented by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs after the SR4.5 billion high-tech Jamrat Bridge project in Mina.
Habib Zain Al-Abidine, deputy minister of municipal and rural affairs, said the railway will have 10 trains in the first phase, each with a length of 300 meters. “Each train will carry 3,000 passengers.”
He said Saudi authorities have not yet fixed the fare. “The matter is in the hands of Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif, chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee. Once the prince gives his directives, we’ll announce the fare,” he said.
The time for transporting pilgrims from Arafat to Muzdalifa will be reduced to five minutes on the 9th of Dul Hijjah when the faithful will move together from the plain of Arafat to Muzdalifa. And another five minutes will take them from Muzdalifa to Mina on the 10th.
Zain Al-Abidine said the railway would operate throughout the year.
The second phase of the project will link Mashair Railway with the Grand Mosque in Makkah with a station on Umm Al-Qura Road. It will also be linked with the Haramain Railway that connects Makkah with Madinah and Jeddah.
The trains will have a test run covering 6,000 km each before starting regular operations. The first test run took place last Thursday. The railway will have 20 trains in the next stage, each with 12 carriages and each carriage holding 250 passengers. About 20 percent of passengers will be seated while 80 percent will be standing. Trains will have a speed of 80 to 120 km/hour.

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A 'Train' Of Thoughts 
In Singapore, I saw the most intelligent and safest train in the world. It runs underground without a driver. It has 29 stations above ground.

The length of its track is 33.3 km and its speed 90 km per hour. This train is electronically controlled from an operations room, whose director says controlling the train is like playing a Playstation.
There are of course other examples. Let us go to Iran. A news item says China and Iran have signed a $2 billion deal (approximately SR7.5 billion) to construct a railway line from Iran to the city of Khisrawi in Iraq, passing through a number of other cities. The story was covered on Sept. 11 by a number of newspapers, including the Egyptian publication Akhbar Al-Youm.
Now let us go to an Arab country, Libya, which has a project for two railway lines with the total length of more than 1,152 km and costing SR9.75 billion.
This means that the cost of a single kilometer of rail is SR8.5 million. These two lines are being constructed by a Chinese company.
In Saudi Arabia there is Al-Mashaer (Holy Sites) Metro, which runs on track that is only 18-km long. It is also being built by a Chinese company. Its cost is SR6.6 billion, which means that the cost of a single kilometer is SR369 million.
Let us, without any prejudice, try to understand the high cost of this metro. It is a traditional historic tram. From the pictures that were leaked, it seems that in terms of decor its cars could compete with Van Gogh’s Opium Flower painting (which was recently stolen from an Egyptian museum). The cars are painted with 24-carat gold. The floors are encrusted with jewels and precious stones. Its seats are made of silver. It incorporates state-of-the-art technology and has an intercom system, which talks to each pilgrim in his or her own language guiding on the correct methods of performing Haj.
If need be, these cars will complete the rituals for the pilgrims. All the above is no more than hypotheses and theories. The truth lies in the hearts of the officials. I asked a friend why the Singaporean train is more intelligent and cheaper? He answered: “Because you are stupid!”
— aaljamili@yahoo.com

Source: Arab News

The Latest Bus News

          

Photo: Straits Times

In their quarterly review of bus services, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and public transport operators announced yesterday that more buses have been added on 11 heavily utilised stretches bus services during peak periods.

In a joint statement, the LTA, SBS Transit and SMRT said SBS Transit has identified nine heavily-utilised bus services for improvement and that more double-deck buses have been deployed and additional bus trips have been added to these four services.
On another five, the operator will add additional bus trips.

SBS Transit will add more bus trips later this month, on Service 15.
SMRT will also be adding more buses and trips to two of its heavily utilised services.

It will also be launching a new express bus service 868 on Tuesday September 28 that will take commuters an hour to get to the city. The bus service will run from Bukit Batok to the heart of Central Business District (CBD), another travel option during the morning peak hours in about an hour.

The improved bus services are:
 5 - Pasir Ris Interchange-Bukit Merah Interchange
15 - Pasir Ris Interchange-Marine Parade Road (loop service)
17 - Pasir Ris Interchange-Bedok Interchange (loop service)
58 - Bishan Interchange-Pasir Ris Interchange
78 - Jurong East Interchange-Clementi Avenue 3 (loop service)
97 - Jurong East Interchange-Marina Centre Terminal
174 - Boon Lay Interchange-New Bridge Road Terminal
190 - Choa Chu Kang Interchange-New Bridge Road Terminal
240 - Boon Lay Interchange-Yung Ho Road (loop service)
410 - Bishan Interchange-Upper Thomson Road/ Sin Ming Avenue
856 - Yishun Interchange-Woodlands Regional Interchange

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Seeing that the queue with 'umrah' visa was very long, we were ushered to get our passports endorsed at the work permit lanes as the lanes were many, and with shorter queues.

There, Chinese nationals who flew in with SIA, were photographed by immigration officers at the counters. Their 10 fingers-fingerprints were obtained too.

It was said that their arrivals is needed for the coming 'haj' season this November.
Although starting this year, GOD willing, trains will be plying between the 4km distance Muzdalifah and Mina, these Chinese national services will be needed too - they will be driving SAPTCO, the Saudi's buses.
The Muslims will drive around Mecca and Medinah.
The rest, around Jeddah and the neighbouring areas.

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An Indonesian driver drove us to Medinah and Mecca.
Once, he asked me about any job opportunity in Singapore or JB as he wants to work at this side of the world when his 2-year work permit expire.
I told him that many people envy him for getting to work in the holy place, but holiness did not matter to him - he wants a job that he wants.

For our 'miqat' trip in Tanaim, we waited 3 hours for him to make his appearance.
And for the sightseeing trip around Mecca, he simply disappeared - his place was taken by an Arabic man until our last bus day back to Jeddah International Airport for our flight back to Singapore.

Judging from the 2 men's driving experience and knowledge of places, the latter is better on the road, because, perhaps  its his motherland.