Assalamualaikum!!
I have always been intrigued and enticed by new things. I have loved the comfortable inter-city transport that the Saudis have, their bus fleet run by SAPTCO ( Saudi Arabia Public Transport Co.).
You would be suprised to see the technologically advanced and sophisticated system the Saudis use even for their bus travel. At a SAPTCO station, you've got great waiting lounges, neat and refreshing.
Once you purchase a ticket, you are insured of your luggage and given luggage tags, all this information feeded in your ticket details which again is an auto generated ticket, obtained after entering your Residence ID or Iqama, as they call it in Arabic.
The buses are fully air-conditioned and wonderful to travel in. They've got lavatories inside them too. You could expect at least one stop at a highway eatery called Ishtera where you can always find the local staple diet of Faham or Shawaya with roz ( rice). Faham is chicken baked over coal while shawaya is the one made in a steam grill.
For a normal Dammam-Riyadh journey, you are charged 60 SR and the travel time can vary.
And for Riyadh-Jeddah, I think it is 130 SR. ( Please check the rates before travelling).
Now coming to the RAILWAYS!!
Being from India, I have a very close connection to Railways, with our country having the largest rail network in the world. I usually travelled to inter state destinations on a train and not on local destinations.
I have my maternal family ( extended) in New Delhi, so we visit the place quite often during our summer vacations. It is a tedious journey of more than 24 hours if you travel by AP Express, the one we prefer. But there are always more better and expensive options.
I was very excited when I came to know that even SAUDI ARABIA has a rail system. They are still at a nascent stage now but alhamdulillah performing very well.
Right now, the most popular route is guess is the DAM-RIY-DAM route. They are in the process of linking the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madina via Jeddah, the project named HHR ( High Speed Harmain Rail) project. This is going to be a great blessing for all Hajis and the residents in general. I wish them all the best on that.
Since coming here to KSA about 18 months back, I have travelled to Makkah, Madina, Jeddah, Dammam, Jubail, and stayed there and worked in Jeddah, Jubail amongst them. My stop overs have been Al Khobar, Taif, Dahran. This country and each of its part is unique in each way. I have been in Riyadh for most of my time, the place of my arrival.
Alhamdulillah now that I have been offered a job in Jubail, I wanted to travel on the Saudi trains. I am very excited about this. Below, I have imported some snapshots from their website which details about the fares for various destinations and the classes for travel on offer. I am very excited and in sha allah I wish the journey corroborates with that. I am super excited and wish the same for you.
Do visit their official website: www.saudirailways.org
Allah HAFIZ!!
So here comes my E_TICKET on in sha allah ta'ala my first journey on-board a Saudi Arabian Train
I have always been intrigued and enticed by new things. I have loved the comfortable inter-city transport that the Saudis have, their bus fleet run by SAPTCO ( Saudi Arabia Public Transport Co.).
You would be suprised to see the technologically advanced and sophisticated system the Saudis use even for their bus travel. At a SAPTCO station, you've got great waiting lounges, neat and refreshing.
Once you purchase a ticket, you are insured of your luggage and given luggage tags, all this information feeded in your ticket details which again is an auto generated ticket, obtained after entering your Residence ID or Iqama, as they call it in Arabic.
The buses are fully air-conditioned and wonderful to travel in. They've got lavatories inside them too. You could expect at least one stop at a highway eatery called Ishtera where you can always find the local staple diet of Faham or Shawaya with roz ( rice). Faham is chicken baked over coal while shawaya is the one made in a steam grill.
For a normal Dammam-Riyadh journey, you are charged 60 SR and the travel time can vary.
And for Riyadh-Jeddah, I think it is 130 SR. ( Please check the rates before travelling).
Now coming to the RAILWAYS!!
Being from India, I have a very close connection to Railways, with our country having the largest rail network in the world. I usually travelled to inter state destinations on a train and not on local destinations.
I have my maternal family ( extended) in New Delhi, so we visit the place quite often during our summer vacations. It is a tedious journey of more than 24 hours if you travel by AP Express, the one we prefer. But there are always more better and expensive options.
I was very excited when I came to know that even SAUDI ARABIA has a rail system. They are still at a nascent stage now but alhamdulillah performing very well.
Right now, the most popular route is guess is the DAM-RIY-DAM route. They are in the process of linking the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madina via Jeddah, the project named HHR ( High Speed Harmain Rail) project. This is going to be a great blessing for all Hajis and the residents in general. I wish them all the best on that.
Since coming here to KSA about 18 months back, I have travelled to Makkah, Madina, Jeddah, Dammam, Jubail, and stayed there and worked in Jeddah, Jubail amongst them. My stop overs have been Al Khobar, Taif, Dahran. This country and each of its part is unique in each way. I have been in Riyadh for most of my time, the place of my arrival.
Alhamdulillah now that I have been offered a job in Jubail, I wanted to travel on the Saudi trains. I am very excited about this. Below, I have imported some snapshots from their website which details about the fares for various destinations and the classes for travel on offer. I am very excited and in sha allah I wish the journey corroborates with that. I am super excited and wish the same for you.
Do visit their official website: www.saudirailways.org
Allah HAFIZ!!
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