The Haramain Railway’s main station in Makkah will cost SR3.2 billion ($853.28 million) to build, Saudi Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry was quoted as saying.

The minister was speaking after inspecting the progress of work at the station, said a report in the Arab News. The high-speed railway will link the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah via Jeddah.

The project will be completed in 2014, it said.

Apart from the five stations originally planned for Jeddah city, King Abdul Aziz International Airport, King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh, Makkah and Madinah, the railway will have an additional one at Abyar Ali in Madinah.

The government recently singed a SR30.815 billion contract with a Saudi-Spanish consortium for implementing Phase II of the project.