<p><strong>One of the new Mashair Railway light-rail trains runs in Mecca, <a id="iieg" title="Saudia Arabia" href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/saudi-arabia-guide/?source=A-to-Z">Saudia Arabia</a>, the holiest city of Islam, in early November. The 11-mile (18-kilometer) railway will transport some of the millions of pilgrims who travel to Islamic holy sites during the annual four-day hajj. <br></strong></p><p>The train is open only to Saudi Arabians and other Persian Gulf-state nationals until the system becomes fully operational next year, according to the Associated Press. (See <a id="nv6o" title="pictures: &quot;Inside Mecca.&quot;" href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/photogalleries/InsideMecca/">pictures: "Inside Mecca."</a>)</p><p>Saudi officials hope the Chinese-built train—also called the Mecca Metro—will ease crowding among the roughly 2.5 million worshipers who make the Mecca pilgrimage in any given year, the AP reported.</p><p>Part of a ten-year modernization plan for the ancient city, the railway will be joined by modern communication technology, green initiatives, and other urban-planning improvements, Mecca Mayor Ossama al-Bar told the AP.</p><p>—<em>Korena Di Roma</em></p>