Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulqadir Oraloglu announced that Turkey reached an agreement to support the completion of the missing 30 kilometers of the remaining superstructure of the Hijaz Railway in Syria.
In a statement carried by Anadolu Agency, Oraloglu referred to the efforts being made to revive the historic Hijaz Railway through cooperation between Turkey, Syria, and Jordan.
He noted the first step towards reviving the historic line had been taken, along with important decisions, within the framework of the technical meeting of the transport ministers of Turkey, Syria, and Jordan, held in Amman on September 11.
“The Jordanian side will discuss the technical capabilities for the maintenance, repair, and operation of the locomotives,” the minister said, “and will study the possibility of operating its own locomotives on the Hijaz Railway to Damascus.”
Oraloglu stated that one of the most important outcomes of the tripartite meeting was the resumption of land transport between Turkey and Jordan via Syria after a 13-year hiatus due to the war in Syria.
He confirmed that the meeting shed light on the issue of transport corridors that would increase Turkey’s connection to the Red Sea via the port of Aqaba, as well as conducting joint technical studies to improve Syria and Jordan’s access to international transport corridors via Turkey.
A Historic Route of the Ottoman Era
The Hijaz Railway is a historic railway built by the Ottomans in the early 20th century. Its purpose was to connect Damascus to Medina, passing through several cities and towns in Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, facilitating the travel of pilgrims to the Hijaz.
The idea for this line crystallized in 1900, and construction work began in September of the same year by order of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Construction was completed in 1908. To this day, the line remains operational in Jordan, while its services to Syria were disrupted due to the events that occurred during the revolution against the ousted regime of Bashar al-Assad.
