A consortium led by Saudi-based Al-Rajhi construction group has won the SR6.8 billion ($1.8 billion) civil works contract for the high-speed railway project linking Makkah and Madina, said a Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) official.

The three-year contract is the first stage of a $6 billion plan to build a 444 kilometre high-speed railroad linking the two Islamic holy cities.

The Al-Rajhi construction group together with France's Alstom and China Railway Engineering will start work on the Haramain Express Train Project soon, said a Saudi Gazette report.

'It will link the two Saudi cities via Jeddah and King Abdul Aziz Airport. The high speed train will travel at about 360 km/hr and cover the distance between Jeddah and Makkah in 30 minutes while the trip between Jeddah and Madina will approximately take two hours,' Abdul Aziz Al-Hugail, SRO general president said.

The consortium's works will include bridges, viaducts, retaining walls, subways, shafts, tunnels, embankments, ground structures, covered ways, utility service structures, fencing, and more, he explained.

In the second phase, the construction of stations will commence tentatively by June 2009, Al Hugail added.