Domestic Haj companies pay SR 70 million annually to rent buses from abroad

Domestic Pilgrims companies licensed to operate in this year’s Haj have started contract procedures to rent 2,500 buses from Jordan and Egypt for pilgrims to be transported from their regions and governorates to the Holy Sites. 
Head of the transportation committee at Makkah Chamber of Commerce & Industry Sa’ad bin Jamil Al-Qurashi said that companies have started issuing the permits for buses to enter the country. Domestic pilgrims companies spend SR 70 million every year renting buses from abroad, as all of the buses provided by the General Car Syndicate are used for Tawafa establishments’ External Pilgrims, because of their insufficient number. 
Buses would not be transporting pilgrims inside the Holy Sites, as transport inside the Holy Sites would be by train, he said, adding that the Ministry of Haj had made it a condition for the buses rented from abroad to be new and maintained and fit to operate during Haj. 
Al-Qurashi said domestic Haj companies are studying the establishment of their own transport company, with an initial capital of SR 200 million.
Any domestic pilgrims companies could contribute to the transport company that would be operating not only during Haj, but also throughout the year by taking part in public and school transport, he added.
He expressed hope that the soon-to-be-officially-formed Coordinating Commission for Domestic Pilgrims Companies would start the procedures to found the transport company that would achieve good profits for them.