Türkiye, Jordan and Syria are planning to strengthen their collaboration in transport. That much was already known following a meeting by officials earlier this month. Now, the Turkish transport minister has confirmed plans to revive the entire Hejaz railway. It would connect Europe to the Red Sea and Saudi Arabia by rail.
“At the Türkiye-Syria-Jordan Transport Ministries Technical Meeting, we took a historic step in regional transportation”, transport minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu wrote on X. “We reached an agreement on a draft Memorandum of Understanding encompassing multifaceted cooperation in the field of transportation between the three countries.”
It marks high-level approval of an earlier announced plan to strengthen transport cooperation between the three countries. The highlight of the plans is without a doubt the revival of an old Ottoman line, the Hejaz railway.
“With Turkish support, the missing 30 kilometres of superstructure of the Hejaz railway in Syria will be completed”, Uraloğlu said. Jordan, for its part, will help with maintenance, repair and operation of locomotives in Syria. The countries also plan to launch technical studies to improve connectivity to the Port of Aqaba at the Red Sea.
Defunct for over a century
The Hejaz railway is an old Ottoman line which only operated for twelve years, between 1908 and 1912, connecting Damascus (Syria) to Medina (modern day Saudi Arabia). Turkish ambitions are now bigger than that: transport minister Uraloğlu published a map showing an extended railway from Istanbul into the Arabian peninsula.
It seems highly unlikely that 30 kilometres of superstructure in Syria will suffice to reinstate a fully functional railway all the way to Saudi Arabia. Questions surrounding capacity, costs and timeframes for completion remain unanswered. Still, the Hejaz railway could connect new markets and open up possibilities for new trade flows via rail.