Makkah (UNA/SPA) – Throughout the history of Hajj, transportation has been one of the most influential factors in facilitating the arrival of pilgrims to the Holy Mosque. Its development has been closely linked to serving pilgrims and easing the hardship of their journey, starting from caravans that traversed the deserts on camelback, up to high-speed trains and smart systems that manage the movement of millions of pilgrims with high efficiency in the modern era.
For centuries, pilgrims relied on traditional means of transport, such as camels, horses, and donkeys, in organized caravans that set out from various Islamic regions towards Mecca. These caravans were integrated systems comprising thousands of pilgrims, stopping at designated stations to replenish their water and provisions and rest before continuing their journey to the holy sites.
Islamic history books documented scenes of pilgrims arriving in Mecca from all over the Islamic world, most notably the book “A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travel” by the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta, in which he documented his observations of the Hajj journeys, describing the pilgrims’ processions, the caravan routes, and the level of security on the roads, in addition to his depiction of aspects of life in Mecca during the Hajj season, and the religious, social and commercial activity that it witnesses, reflecting its status as a destination for Muslims from all over the Islamic world.
Despite the importance of those means in their time, the Hajj journey sometimes took several months, amidst arduous challenges represented by the roughness of the roads, the fluctuations of the weather, and the scarcity of water in some routes, which made performing the pilgrimage require great patience and effort.
At a later stage, transportation witnessed an important transformation with the introduction of maritime transport, as traditional and steam ships began transporting pilgrims coming from Asian and African countries across the Red Sea to Jeddah Islamic Port, which for decades formed the main gateway for millions of pilgrims to cross to Mecca, before port services and related infrastructure developed in subsequent decades.
With the development of transportation methods globally, modern vehicles and buses began to enter the Hajj system, and the construction of highways in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contributed to accelerating the movement of people between Mecca, the holy sites, land ports and airports, which shortened travel time and raised the levels of safety and comfort for pilgrims.
Civil aviation has brought about a radical transformation in the transportation of pilgrims, as airplanes have become the most prominent means for millions of pilgrims to reach the Kingdom annually from different continents of the world in journeys that take only a few hours instead of weeks or months.
Saudi airports, most notably King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, now receive pilgrims through an advanced operational system that includes dedicated halls for pilgrims and modern technologies to facilitate arrival and departure procedures, ensuring smooth movement from the moment the pilgrim arrives in the Kingdom until his transfer to the holy sites.
In modern times, the Kingdom has developed an integrated transportation system within Makkah and the Holy Sites, relying on the latest technologies to manage crowd movement with high efficiency. Among the most prominent of these is the Holy Sites Train project, which is considered one of the most important qualitative projects in transportation management during the Hajj season.
The Holy Sites Train operates according to a smart operational system that connects the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah via dedicated routes, which contributes to transporting large numbers of pilgrims with high smoothness, and reducing traffic congestion during peak times, thus enhancing safety and organization levels.
The Haramain High-Speed Railway represents a qualitative leap in transportation services related to Hajj and Umrah, as it connects Makkah and Madinah, passing through Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City, and provides a fast, safe and environmentally friendly means of transportation, reducing the journey time between Makkah and Madinah to about two hours.
In addition to rail transport, the modern Hajj system relies on a huge fleet of shuttle buses equipped with tracking systems and smart traffic management technologies, ensuring that the movement of pilgrims is organized according to precise operational plans, in addition to the expansion of road, bridge and tunnel networks that accommodate the high densities during the Hajj season.
As part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objectives, the means of transporting pilgrims have witnessed rapid development through the use of digital technologies, artificial intelligence and data analysis in crowd management and improving the mobility experience within the holy sites.
These solutions include smart applications that allow pilgrims to know travel times, bus routes, and density levels in the holy sites, which helps to improve movement efficiency and reduce congestion.
In his book “Elements of Transportation in Hajj,” published in 2021, Dr. Zuhair Abdullah Hussein Makki, former Associate Professor of Transportation Geography in the Department of Geography at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Umm Al-Qura University, pointed out that the development of the transportation system in Hajj is one of the most prominent geographical and organizational transformations in crowd management. The book addressed the development of transportation patterns and Hajj routes throughout history, the analysis of road networks, environmental constraints, and problems related to the movement of pilgrims, leading to modern solutions based on technological integration and smart traffic management.
The author focused on tracking the land routes of the Hajj, including ancient caravan routes, paved roads, and railway lines, in addition to monitoring the sea routes used by pilgrims to reach Mecca during the Hajj seasons, as well as tracking the internal air routes in the Kingdom, and the external air routes that connect the Kingdom’s international airports with their counterparts in the countries of the Islamic world.
Speaking about transportation, he explained that initially it was limited to walking or using animals, before witnessing significant development with the emergence of cars as a modern means of transporting pilgrims. With the expansion of transportation, buses were integrated into the pilgrim transport system in an organized manner, which necessitated the establishment of the General Syndicate of Cars to oversee transportation operations and the distribution of pilgrims among the companies operating in this sector.
Dr. Zuhair Makki explained that the stability of the political and security situation contributed directly to the flourishing of the economic movement, which played a pivotal role in the establishment of modern land routes and the development of infrastructure, which enhanced the facilitation of the movement of pilgrims and raised the efficiency of the services provided to them.
The successive developments in means of transporting pilgrims embody the extent of the care that the Kingdom gives to serving the guests of God, through developing the infrastructure, raising the efficiency of operations, integrating the concerned authorities, and applying the highest standards of safety and sustainability.
The Hajj journey has transformed from caravans traversing the deserts on camelback to high-speed trains, airplanes, and smart systems, harnessing all modern means of transportation as part of a continuous civilizational and technological development story that reflects the Kingdom’s keenness to harness all capabilities to serve the pilgrims and provide a more comfortable, safe, and smooth spiritual journey for the guests of God coming from all over the world.
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