Mecca: The cost of Mashaer metro ticket hasn’t increased this year, said the head of Bahrain’s Haj mission Shaikh Adnan Al Qattan.
The Mashaer metro is a shuttle train operating only during the Haj days between holy sites.
“The mission doesn’t spare any efforts to ease burden on pilgrims and maintains annual contracts with airline offices with the best prices and services. This year, the mission has signed a contract with Gulf Air for the transport of pilgrims,” he said.
New services have been put in place this season, including Wi-Fi hotspots in Arafat and an app to provide electronic maps.
Meanwhile, economic expert Dr Akbar Jaffari told our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej that a Bahraini pilgrim spends BD2,500 on average during Haj, covering contractor’s fees, gifts and other requirements.
Therefore, this year’s 4,205 Bahraini pilgrims are expected to spend more than BD10.5 million, he added.
More than 2.5m Muslims will tomorrow begin Haj in Mecca, and 1.8m visitors have already arrived, authorities said.