The Haramain High Speed Railway is one of the genuinely excellent things about travelling between the two holy cities. It covers roughly 453 kilometres at speeds up to 300 kilometres an hour, and the Makkah to Madinah run takes about 2 hours 15 minutes.
For comparison, the same trip by road is five to six hours depending on traffic and how many stops your driver makes. The train is faster, far more comfortable, and you arrive able to pray rather than needing to lie down.
The five stations
The line runs in a straight chain, so every journey is just two points on this list:
- Makkah (Rusaifah, near the Haram)
- Jeddah Al Sulaimaniyah (central Jeddah)
- Jeddah Airport (King Abdulaziz International, connected to the terminals)
- KAEC (King Abdullah Economic City, Rabigh)
- Madinah (Knowledge Economic City)
The airport station is the one that matters most for pilgrims arriving from the US. If you land at Jeddah and your itinerary starts in Madinah, you can go from the terminal onto the train without a road transfer at all.
Typical journey times
| Route | Approximate time |
|---|---|
| Makkah to Madinah | 2 hours 15 minutes |
| Makkah to Jeddah Airport | about 40 minutes |
| Jeddah Airport to Madinah | about 1 hour 45 minutes |
| Makkah to Jeddah central | about 30 minutes |
Times vary slightly by service, since some trains stop at every station and some skip KAEC.
What it costs
Economy fares for Makkah to Madinah start somewhere around 160 Saudi riyals, which is roughly 43 US dollars, before VAT. Business class costs noticeably more. Shorter hops like Makkah to Jeddah are cheaper.
Fares move with demand and with how far ahead you book, exactly like airline pricing. Booking a week out is cheaper than booking on the day. Check the current price on the official booking channel rather than relying on any figure you read in an article, including this one.
How to book
- The official Haramain booking website and the Saudi Arabia Railways app. This is the primary route. Search for the official Haramain High Speed Railway site, or go through Saudi Arabia Railways. Be careful with sponsored search results, because resellers charge a markup for the same seat.
- Through Nusuk, which now carries rail bookings alongside permits.
- At the station counters, which works but means standing in a queue and risking a sold out train in peak season.
- Through your travel agent. If you have booked a package, your operator usually handles this and you simply get a ticket.
Book ahead in Ramadan and around Hajj. Trains genuinely sell out. In the 2026 Hajj season the line carried more than 800,000 passengers.
Practical things worth knowing
Luggage. The standard allowance is one bag up to 25 kilograms plus one piece of hand luggage. Generous by airline standards, and nobody is weighing your Zamzam. Speaking of which, read bringing Zamzam water home to the USA before you buy more than you can carry.
Arrive 30 minutes early. There is a security check and the trains leave on time. They do not wait.
You can pray on board. There is a prayer area. Many pilgrims travel in ihram on the Madinah to Makkah leg, which is completely normal and nobody will look at you twice.
Classes. Economy is perfectly comfortable, with proper seats and decent legroom. Business gets you more space and a meal. For a two hour trip, economy is fine for most people.
The stations are not next to the Haram. This is the one thing people get wrong. Makkah station is a short drive from the Haram, and Madinah station is a fair distance from Masjid an Nabawi. You still need a taxi at each end. Budget 20 to 30 minutes and a modest fare for each transfer.
When the train is not the right answer
Be honest about your group before you default to the train.
Elderly or limited mobility travellers. The train itself is accessible and the staff are helpful. The problem is the sequence: hotel to taxi, taxi to station, station concourse, platform, train, then the whole thing again in reverse. That is four transitions. A single private car from hotel door to hotel door is one. For a frail parent or anyone in a wheelchair, the car often wins despite taking twice as long. See Umrah with a wheelchair and limited mobility.
Large families with a lot of luggage. Six people and nine bags through two taxi transfers is miserable. A van is easier.
Odd hours. If your flight lands at 3am, the train timetable may not help you and a car will.
Groups. Most group Umrah packages, including ours, use coaches between the cities because it keeps the group together and the luggage handled. That is usually the right call for a group, even though the train is faster.
How we usually do it
For couples and small families travelling independently, we book the train. It is the better experience and it is good value.
For groups, elderly travellers, and anyone with mobility needs, we use private transport door to door. Our group departures travel by coach for that reason.
If you are putting your own itinerary together and you are not sure which legs should be rail and which should be road, tell us your dates and who is travelling and we will map it out.
One current note
Before you plan any travel within Saudi Arabia, read the current US State Department travel advisory. It sits at Level 3, Reconsider Travel, as of 12 October 2026, and it includes specific guidance about regions and transport hubs. We have summarised it with the official sources in is it safe to travel to Saudi Arabia right now.
