How fast is the Haramain train?

The operator states an operational speed of 300 km/h across a route it gives as 450 km.

Can non-Muslims travel on the Haramain railway?

Yes, but not to or from Makkah. Non-Muslims may not enter the city of Makkah at all, and checkpoints enforce this. The Jeddah, airport, KAEC and Madinah stations are open to all travellers - Madinah city is open, only the Haram zone around the mosque is not.

Does the train stop at Jeddah airport?

Yes. King Abdulaziz International Airport has its own station on the line, which lets arriving passengers continue north without going into Jeddah first.

How far is Jeddah from Madinah on the line?

The operator's station list gives 17 km from Jeddah to the airport station, 94 km on to King Abdullah Economic City and 261 km from there to Madinah.

The Haramain High-Speed Railway: Five Stations, 450 km, and One Rule That Decides Your Route

By Explore Saudi Team · Published 29 August 2026 · 7 min

The Haramain train links Makkah, Jeddah, the airport, KAEC and Madinah at 300 km/h. Route, stations, booking — and the Makkah rule non-Muslims need.

Key Takeaways

The operator gives the route as 450 km with an operational speed of 300 km/h
Five stations: Makkah, Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA), King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) and Madinah
Non-Muslims may not enter Makkah at all - the whole city, not only the mosque - so Makkah station is not an option for them
Jeddah, the airport station, KAEC and Madinah city are open to all travellers, which leaves a usable four-station railway
The airport station means you can land at Jeddah and continue north by train instead of transferring into the city first

Saudi Arabia has one high-speed railway, and it runs down the country's western spine. The Haramain High-Speed Railway (also branded HHR) is operated by Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR), covers a route the operator gives as 450 km at an operational speed of 300 km/h, linking five stations between Makkah and Madinah. Operator and speed are confirmed directly on SAR's own HHR portal (retrieved 29 August 2026); the total distance is quoted variously as 450-453 km across the operator's own pages, a discrepancy we have not been able to resolve to a single figure - treat both as the same route.

For most visitors the interesting question is not how fast it goes. It is which of those five stations they are actually allowed to use.

The five stations

North to south, the line serves Makkah, Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA), King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) and Madinah - this order is confirmed on the operator's own site.

The operator publishes distances alongside each station: 77 km, 17 km, 94 km and 261 km. Read as the legs between consecutive stops - Makkah to Jeddah, Jeddah to the airport, the airport to KAEC, KAEC to Madinah - they add up to 449 km, which matches the stated 450 km route. That is the only reading that holds together, since the airport lies beyond Jeddah rather than 60 km before it.

The rule that decides your route

Non-Muslims may not enter Makkah. Not the mosque only - the entire city, and checkpoints on the approach roads enforce it. That makes Makkah station unavailable to non-Muslim travellers, and it is not a formality anyone should plan around loosely.

Madinah is different, and the distinction is worth getting right. The city of Madinah is open to all travellers; it is the Haram zone around the Prophet's Mosque that is not. So Madinah station is usable, and the city is visitable - see our Madinah travel guide for what that looks like in practice.

The net effect: non-Muslim visitors have a four-station railway - Jeddah, the airport, KAEC, Madinah - running the length of the Hejaz. That is still one of the most useful pieces of transport infrastructure in the country for a coastal itinerary. Travellers performing Hajj or Umrah, for whom Makkah station is the point, will find the pilgrimage-side logistics in our Hajj and Umrah planning guide, and the city itself in the Makkah travel guide. For the city the line runs out of, see our Jeddah travel guide.

The airport station is the underrated part

King Abdulaziz International Airport has its own stop on the line, built into Terminal 1. If you are flying into Jeddah and heading north, you do not have to transfer into the city, find a hotel for the night and come back out again the next morning - you can continue by train from the airport. It is the single detail on this page most likely to save someone a wasted day. How the airports connect more broadly is covered in getting to Saudi Arabia.

On board

Trains carry 417 seats each - 113 in Business Class and 304 in Economy - with a dedicated dining coach and two wheelchair-accessible seats per train, per SAR's own portal. Two classes is the full choice: there is no third tier.

Booking, and what we are not telling you

Tickets are sold through the operator's own portal (sar.hhr.sa) and app, with phone support on 920 004 433. We are deliberately not publishing fares or a fixed timetable here. The operator's live timetable is published dynamically and is not machine-readable to us, and the ticket resellers that do publish numbers are not the operator - quoting them as though they were would be exactly the kind of borrowed precision that ages badly. Book on the operator's portal and read the times there.

What we can say without a source problem: the service runs to a scheduled timetable rather than on demand, capacity is expanded heavily around Ramadan and the Hajj season - SAR has reported figures in the thousands of trips during peak Hajj weeks in past years - and those are the periods when booking ahead stops being optional.

Train, plane or car on the Hejaz coast

For Jeddah to Madinah, the train is the obvious answer - it is the corridor the line was built for. For anything east, including Riyadh, there is no high-speed rail and flying is the practical choice. And for the stretch of coast between the stations, the railway does not help at all; the small Red Sea towns are a driving proposition. Our overview of transport in Saudi Arabia sets the options side by side. If your trip falls in the year-end travel window, see our Saudi Arabia in December hub for how the railway fits a wider Hejaz itinerary.

The short version

450 km, 300 km/h, five stations, run by Saudi Arabia Railways. Non-Muslims can use four of them - everything except Makkah. The airport stop is the one that saves you a day. Trains seat 417 across Business and Economy. Check times and fares on the operator's portal, not on a reseller.

Sources and Verification

This guide was last checked on 29 August 2026 against the official source below.

Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) - Haramain High-Speed Railway, About - the operator's own page for the route, station order, distances, top speed and train configuration.

Reviewed by the Explore Saudi Editorial Team, 29 August 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which stations does the Haramain train serve?: Five: Makkah, Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA), King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) and Madinah.
How fast is the Haramain train?: The operator states an operational speed of 300 km/h across a route it gives as 450 km.
Can non-Muslims travel on the Haramain railway?: Yes, but not to or from Makkah. Non-Muslims may not enter the city of Makkah at all, and checkpoints enforce this. The Jeddah, airport, KAEC and Madinah stations are open to all travellers - Madinah city is open, only the Haram zone around the mosque is not.
Does the train stop at Jeddah airport?: Yes. King Abdulaziz International Airport has its own station on the line, which lets arriving passengers continue north without going into Jeddah first.
How far is Jeddah from Madinah on the line?: The operator's station list gives 17 km from Jeddah to the airport station, 94 km on to King Abdullah Economic City and 261 km from there to Madinah.