The path is the same as the Holy Prophet (PBUH) himself took on his last pilgrimage. Islam is now embraced by a quarter of the world's population and Hajj is a duty for all able-bodied Muslims who can afford it. Many wait for years to get a visa. "I can't explain the feeling of being here," said Mahboob Bangosh, a Canadian pilgrim from Toronto of Afghani origin.
To minimise the risk of overcrowding and to lessen congestion on the roads the authorities will for the first time be operating a Chinese-built train that will call at Hajj sites.
The $1.8 billion railway project has tracks that are 18 kilometres long and will transport 180,000 passengers this year, said Habib Zein Al Abideen, assistant minister for municipal and rural affairs. "We will have a capacity of 72,000 passengers per hour next year. This year we operate at 35 percent capacity. Next year we could have 500,000 to 600,000 passengers," Abideen said.
Due to its limited capacity, the train will this year only carry residents of Saudi Arabia or other Gulf Arabs and next year will open to others nationalities, he said. "It will be big improvement. Tickets cost only a symbolic amount," said Walid al-Mushawer, a Saudi pilgrim. Saudi Arabia has worked hard to improve facilities to ease the flow of pilgrims at Hajj. In 2006, 362 people were crushed to death.