Thales delivers ATO system for the Mecca metro

Thales has opened the last phase of Mecca’s new 18.5 km metro line on schedule and in time for the Hajj pilgrimage, the world’s largest religious gathering. The line transports pilgrims between holy sites, reducing travel time between Arafat and Muzdalifah from five hours to just ten minutes.
April 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSS596 Thales has opened the last phase of Mecca’s new 18.5 km metro line on schedule and in time for the Hajj pilgrimage, the world’s largest religious gathering. The line transports pilgrims between holy sites, reducing travel time between Arafat and Muzdalifah from five hours to just ten minutes.

The ATO (automatic train operation) solution is the last successful stage in this ambitious project, improving metro performance by allowing ‘hands off’ operation by drivers. The solution ensures that trains comply with required track speeds and operating conditions to ensure efficient, safe travel at all times.

Thales has provided a complete solution for the Mecca metro project, including signalling solutions based on its world-leading SelTrac Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) system, fully integrated communications, an Operation Control Centre (OCC) to supervise the line and an automated passenger information system.

“After managing the security supervision of the holy sites, Thales is very proud to have contributed once again to the improvement of the pilgrimage with this automatic metro,” said Michelangelo Neri, VP for Thales’s civil business in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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