The Saudi Railway Authority said Wednesday (October 26th) that al-Shuala, a coalition of Spanish and Saudi companies, won the rights to construct the second phase of a project to build a railway line between Jeddah, Medina and Mecca.

The project includes the high-speed railway between Jeddah, Medina, Mecca and Rabegh.

"This phase includes the construction of track, a system for telecommunication, signalling and power, an operation command centre, and the purchase of 35 full railroad cars, as well as maintenance and operations for 12 years," said a statement posted on the company's website.

According to the statement, there are currently about 1,378 kilometres of railway in Saudi Arabia. The new line will be 450 kilometres long.