The present disclosure is directed to a train system located at a religious site, in particular the present disclosure is drawn to a train system for moving people within the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
People of all religions may take pilgrimages to sites that are considered holy within their particular religion. For example, people of Muslim faith, Jewish faith, or Christian faith might travel to the city of Jerusalem in Israel because the Old City of Jerusalem has religious and historical significance to each of those religions.
For people of the Muslim faith, the most important pilgrimage to be made is the Hajj, a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. During Hajj at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Muslims perform the ritual of tawaf. The ritual of tawaf involves circumambulation around the Kaaba, located in the center of the Grand Mosque. Muslims circumambulate seven times in a counterclockwise direction around the Kaaba. However, because the Hajj is so important in the Muslim faith, many people pilgrimage to Mecca, creating large crowds of people around the Kaaba, making it difficult for people in wheelchairs and with other mobility issues to circumambulate around the Kaaba. Thus, there is a need to create a system that allows people in wheelchairs and with other mobility issues to more easily circumambulate around the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque.
The present disclosure is directed to a system that alleviates the issues for people in wheelchairs and with other mobility issues when on a pilgrimage at a religious site. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to a train system for moving people within a religious site. The train system includes an elevated train track forming a closed loop within the religious site. An object of attention is located at a middle of the closed loop formed by the elevated train track.
The present train system also includes at least one train on the elevated train track. The at least one train has at least one carriage having an inside, with the inside of the at least one carriage having a floor, a first seat located closer to the object of attention, and a second seat next to the first seat and farther away from the object of attention. The first seat and second seat have different distances from the floor of the carriage.
The present train system further includes at least one passenger platform for embarkation of at least one passenger onto the at least one train, and at least one passenger platform for disembarkation of the at least one passenger from the at least one train.
Other features and advantages of the train system of the present subject matter will be made clear in the following descriptions of the various embodiments and elements.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
There is a need for a system for helping the infirm move around religious sites, whether those sites are important in Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, or any other religion. Some religious sites cover vast areas. Some religious rituals involve movements of people, often many people at one time. In these situations, it is often difficult for people in wheelchairs or with other mobility issues to travel within the religious site and/or partake in the specific religious rituals.
The present disclosure is directed to a train system for moving people within a religious site, thus making it easier for people in wheelchairs or with other mobility issues to move about the religious site and to partake in the religious rituals. In a specific non-limiting embodiment, the religious site is the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia and the religious ritual involves circumambulation around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque. However, it is contemplated that the present train system could be implemented in any religious site large enough to stage the present train system and the religious ritual could be any ritual that involves the movement of people, especially large amounts of people at one time.
Train system 110 also includes at least one train on elevated train track 120.
As indicated above, train system 100 includes at least one train 130 for helping passengers or pilgrims circumambulate object of attention 110.
The difference in height allows a passenger seated in second seat 220 to see over the passenger in first seat 230 when looking towards object of attention 110 without having to rise out of their seat. As such, it is contemplated that L2-L1 is sufficiently large to accomplish this unobstructed view of the passenger in second seat 220 when there is also a passenger in first seat 230. A difference in height of 5-10 centimeters is sufficient to provide this advantage. In a non-limiting embodiment, L2 is 45 centimeters and L1 is 40 centimeters, thereby providing a difference in height of 5 centimeters.
Train system 100 includes at least one passenger embarkation platform 154 for embarkation of at least one passenger onto the at least one train 130. Train system 100 also includes at least one passenger disembarkation platform 150 for disembarkation of the at least one passenger from the at least one train.
Trains 130 can move along elevated train track 120 in either a clockwise direction or a counterclockwise direction. The positioning of first seat 230 and second seat 220 within carriage 132 depends on the direction train 130 is traveling on elevated train track 120. First seat 230, being designated as the seat lower in height, is always closest to object of attention 110 in order to allow a passenger in the higher seat to see object of attention 110 over a passenger seated in the lower seat. In the embodiment depicted in
The elevated aspect of train system 100 allows more people to circumambulate around object of attention 110 by not taking up ground space around object of attention 110. In order to accomplish such elevation, elevated train tracks 120 is supported by a plurality of train track support structures.
The architectural design of each train track support structure 300 is consistent with the overall design of the religious site. In a particular embodiment, train track support structure is made of steel, however any suitable material can be used so long as the material is strong enough to support elevated train track 120 and all of the trains thereon. It is contemplated that the distance between each train track support structure 300 within the religious site will be 5-8 meters, more generally about 7 meters.
As trains move along elevated train track 120, the trains do not want to be delayed while other trains are loading and unloading passengers. Therefore, elevated train track 120 includes first track branch 144 connecting elevated train track 120 to passenger embarkation platform 154, second track branch 146 connecting elevated train track 120 to passenger embarkation platform 156, third track branch 140 connecting elevated train track 120 to passenger disembarkation platform 150, and fourth track branch 142 connecting elevated train track 120 to passenger disembarkation platform 152. The track branches allow trains to detour from elevated train track 120 to the various passenger platforms without disrupting the movement of other trains on elevated train track 120. In order to divert the trains from elevated train track 120, diverters 126, 128, 122, 124, respectively, are positioned at each branch point. Diverters 126, 128, 122, 124 are controlled by the operator located in the central control room. Diverters 126, 128, 122, 124 can be train track switches that allow the trains to switch tracks from elevated train track 120 to the respective track branch.
There may be situations where the religious site has buildings or structures that are positioned to allow passengers easy access to the passenger embarkation platforms and passenger disembarkation platforms. In some such situations, the buildings or structures located at the religious site may facilitate the erection of additional platforms to make movement of passengers and pilgrims easier.
In situations where the religious site allows religious site platforms to be erected, it often results in the need for a bridge to be built from the religious site platform to the passenger embarkation platform or passenger disembarkation platform, thus allowing passengers and pilgrims to move from the religious site platform to the passenger embarkation platform or vice versa.
Bridge 460 also includes a pair of inside rails 466, 468 associated with outer rails 462, 464, respectively. Each of inside rails 466, 468 span a shorter length of bridge than their corresponding outside rail 462, 464. In a particular embodiment, the length of inside rails 466, 468 is about half of the length of outside rails 462, 464. Inside rails 466, 468 are spaced apart from their respective outside rails 462, 464, thereby forming a space between outside rail 462 and inside rail 466, and a space between outside rail 464 and inside rail 468. The spaces created between the outside rails and the inside rails is sufficiently large to accommodate a number of wheelchairs 480 that have been folded to conserve space. This allows easy storage of wheelchairs 480 as the passenger rides the train around the object of attention 110. The spacing of the various platforms from each other allows the wheelchair user to quickly and efficiently retrieve the wheelchair after circumambulating the object of attention. As a wheelchair is pushed into the space between the outer rail and the inner rail, the wheelchair pushes forward any wheelchairs already within the space so that the user's wheelchair is at the front of the line by the time the user retrieves the wheelchair from the space, having been pushed by subsequently arriving wheelchairs.
While the particular embodiment in
It is to be understood that the system and method for attributing content is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the generic language of the following claims enabled by the embodiments described herein, or otherwise shown in the drawings or described above in terms sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the claimed subject matter.
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4703697 | Bell | Nov 1987 | A |
4781119 | Davis | Nov 1988 | A |
10625656 | Golden | Apr 2020 | B1 |
20070251407 | Gabriel | Nov 2007 | A1 |
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215154626 | Dec 2021 | CN |
1554210 | Dec 2008 | EP |
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Saudi Gazette, “Presidency provides electric vehicle to transport elderly, disabled at Grand Mosque”, Nov. 9, 2022. |
About Islam & News Agencies, “New Electric Vehicles to Help Elderly Pilgrims in Makkah”, Dec. 13, 2018. |