KSA to Introduce Technology that Shortens Travel Time from Jeddah to Mecca in 5 Minutes

“Virgin Hyperloop”, a US transport company,  has announced a new technology that significantly reduces travel time. The company said that residents of Jeddah, a coastal city in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), for example, will be able in the future to reach Mecca, the holiest city in Islam,  or vice versa, within 5 minutes, while travelers to Riyadh from Jeddah can arrive there in less than an hour, according to, "Okaz", a daily Saudi newspaper.

The company revealed that its advanced Hyperloop technology can transport passengers comfortably, safely, and quietly, at speeds of up to 1,078 kilometers per hour, through passenger compartments (capsules) at high speed through electric propulsion.

Earlier, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, CEO of DP World, an Emirati multinational logistics company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, revealed that the "Hyperloop" technology, which can transport passengers at rocket speed, may become a reality before 2030.

He noted that the first country to launch this technology will be Saudi Arabia or India.

According to the Saudi electronic newspaper, Sabq, a high-speed transportation system, which can reduce travel time between cities to less than half an hour, is currently being developed by many companies, including Virgin Hyperloop.

The name of the Kingdom was associated with this new technology, as the Saudi Ministry of Transport signed a contract with the company in early 2020, for a preliminary study on the use of Hyperloop technology in the field of transporting passengers and goods in the Kingdom.

Virgin Hyperloop is building a transportation system that can push passenger or cargo capsules at speeds of more than 1,000 km per hour, or three times faster than high-speed rail, and ten times faster than conventional rail.

The company raised   $400 million from investors, including DP World.

In 2019, Virgin Hyperloop announced a study to build the world's longest hyperloop test site, with a length of 35 km, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through the Public Investment Fund, to reduce travel time, not only throughout the Kingdom but all over the world and across the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).