Women drive fast train to Makkah as Saudi workforce evolves

Women drive fast train to Makkah as Saudi workforce evolves

‘The first day working here was like a dream for me — entering the train, entering the cabin,’ says Tharaa Ali

Tharaa Ali is pictured in one of the wagons of a high-speed train ferrying pilgrims to holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah, on January 22, 2023. — AFP

By AFP Published: Sun 29 Jan 2023, 2:50 PM

Driver Tharaa Ali takes her seat at the helm of a high-speed train ferrying pilgrims to the holy city of Makkah, a beneficiary of Saudi Arabia's bid to employ its booming female workforce.

Saudi women only gained the right to drive in 2018, and until recently 25-year-old Ali's transportation experience was limited to cruising around her native Jeddah in the family sedan.

But last year she joined some 28,000 applicants vying for just 32 slots for women drivers on the Haramain High Speed Railway, which plies the 450-kilometre route between the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour.

To her astonishment, the former English teacher was among the lucky few selected, and she completed her first trip last month.

"The first day working here was like a dream for me — entering the train,