Century Old Hejaz Railway Could Return as Turkey and Saudi Arabia Weigh a Land Route Around Risky Waterways

According to Eco Iran, citing Tabnak and the analysis outlet Arabian Business, Turkey, Syria and Saudi Arabia are examining the revival of the historic Hejaz Railway, which linked Damascus to Medina between 1900 and 1908, while the United Arab Emirates and Oman have entered talks about possibly joining the planned Persian Gulf Cooperation Council rail network. Turkey and Saudi Arabia signed a rail cooperation memorandum this summer, and Turkey's Transport and Infrastructure Minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, has estimated that rebuilding the rail link between Turkey and Aleppo would cost about $100 million, with a full Turkey to Saudi Arabia line via Syria and Jordan potentially completed within three to four years.

Dr Liju John, an assistant professor of logistics and supply chain management at Heriot Watt University Dubai, said successive Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz crises have shown regional states that the cost of being unable to move goods exceeds the cost of an expensive alternative route. The plan under discussion involves reviving existing infrastructure in Medina, Tabuk and AlUla and, if completed, would provide a new overland route paralleling the region's high risk waterways to connect Turkey with Saudi Arabian and Persian Gulf markets.