Haramain High-Speed Rail to Resume Operations End of March

Haramain high-speed railway operations were during over the pandemic. (SPA)
Haramain high-speed railway operations were during over the pandemic. (SPA)
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Haramain High-Speed Rail to Resume Operations End of March

Haramain high-speed railway operations were during over the pandemic. (SPA)
Haramain high-speed railway operations were during over the pandemic. (SPA)

Haramain High-Speed Rail announced that it will resume operations as of Wednesday, March 31, 2021.

Passengers can start booking tickets from and to Makkah, Madinah, King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah, and King Abdullah Economic City stations, as of Monday, March 15.

The railway services were suspended on March 21, 2020 as part of the Saudi government's efforts to combat COVID-19 pandemic.

Notably, the Haramain service is one of the biggest public transport projects in the Middle East, a 450 kilometer two-way electric train linking Makkah and Madinah, with extensions to Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City.

The project will transport 60 million passengers per year on 35 trains, with a seating capacity of 417 per train and traveling at a speed of 300 kph.



Oil Prices Steady as Expected OPEC+ Output Increase Offsets Canada Supply Pressure

FILE PHOTO: A worker walks at Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq, November 28, 2017. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A worker walks at Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq, November 28, 2017. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani/File Photo
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Oil Prices Steady as Expected OPEC+ Output Increase Offsets Canada Supply Pressure

FILE PHOTO: A worker walks at Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq, November 28, 2017. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A worker walks at Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq, November 28, 2017. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani/File Photo

Oil prices held steady on Wednesday as concern around the OPEC+ groups next output increase were offset by Canadian supply pressures due to wildfires there, while global trade tensions continue to linger.

Brent crude futures inched 18 cents lower, or down around 0.3%, at $65.45 a barrel by 0905 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was 19 cents lower, also down 0.3%, at $63.22 a barrel.

The unwinding of 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July by OPEC+ states was weighing on the market, Janiv Shah, vice president of oil commodity markets analysis at Rystad Energy said, but there was some support from the removal of Canada's 344,000 bpd production due to the wildfires.

Both benchmarks climbed about 2% on Tuesday to a two-week high, driven by worries over supply disruption and expectations that Iran would reject a US nuclear deal proposal key to easing sanctions on the major oil producer, Reuters reported.

"Geopolitical tensions are simmering in the background, with risks to fundamentals skewed to the upside, as Russian and Iranian oil exports remain elevated," Barclays analyst Amarpreet Singh said in a research note late on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are likely to speak this week, days after Trump accused China of violating a deal to roll back tariffs and trade curbs.

On Tuesday, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cut its global growth forecast as the fallout from Trump's trade war takes a bigger toll on the US economy.