
25/09/2025
"Türkiye, Syria & Jordan to Revive the Historic Hejaz Railway"
A landmark step toward regional connectivity and heritage preservation: Türkiye, Syria, and Jordan have agreed to revive the legendary Hejaz Railway.
🔹 At a recent tripartite meeting in Amman, the three nations reached a preliminary agreement on a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate on transport infrastructure.
🔹 Türkiye will help complete 30 km of missing railway tracks in Syria.
🔹 Jordan will explore locomotive maintenance and repair capacity to support operations.
🔹 Plans include joint studies to strengthen Türkiye’s access to the Red Sea via Jordan’s Port of Aqaba.
🔹 Road transport between Türkiye and Jordan through Syria will also resume after 13 years.
📜 Originally built between 1900 and 1908 under Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II, the Hejaz Railway stretched 1,750 km — linking Istanbul to Medina and Mecca, while also connecting Damascus and Yemen. It was designed to ease pilgrimages and strengthen Ottoman control, featuring desert stations, stone viaducts, and narrow-gauge tracks.
Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu summed it up:
“While preserving our region’s historical heritage, we are also establishing strong cooperation in international transport corridors.”
Now, after more than a century, the railway that once carried pilgrims and history itself may once again carry people, trade, and hope.