n: a future hub for the Middle East network?
In recent years the Jordanian government has advanced plans for a national railway network which will link Iraq with the Red Sea and Saudi Arabia with Syria, Turkey, and Europe. Keith Barrow reports from Amman on how this major regional project is moving forward.
T
HE viaducts that carry the Hedjaz Railway through the hills of
Amman stand as testament to an ambitious regional railway project conceived over a century ago. The Hedjaz Railway was a triumph of cooperation as much as engineering, as Muslims around the world
contributed funds to drive a 1322km line through the desert, and establish a new pilgrimage route linking Damascus and the Mediterranean with the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
In his history of the line The
Hedjaz Railway - the construction
of a new hope, M Metin Hugalu notes “symbolically the arrival of the first train in Mecca would signal the dawn of a new, prosperous era for the Arabian Peninsula. Therefore it would be a worthwhile project in numerous ways.” The line was completed in 1913 but the onset of the First World War meant its status as a through route was short- lived. Nonetheless, its political, military and social impact on the region has endured, and as Hugalu concludes, it remains a symbol of cooperation and Muslim brotherhood. A century on, the Arabian Peninsula is witnessing an equally remarkable period of railway construction. The isolated Saudi network is rapidly extending north towards the Jordanian border, while to the east the
development of the Gulf States Railway will provide new links to the developing networks of Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, and Oman. As the regional railway system takes shape, the prospect of a connection to Jordan, and eventually Turkey, looks increasingly within reach. Following the completion of a feasibility study by BNP Paribas in 2010, the Jordanian government is developing plans for an 897km standard-gauge national railway network with links to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Syria, which will be constructed primarily for freight traffic but with provision for the future introduction of passenger trains.
The Jordan National Railway Project (JNRP) involves the
development of three corridors. The main north-south spine of the network will be a 509km line connecting the Red Sea port of Aqaba with the capital Amman, the industrial city of Zarqa and the Syrian border, paralleling the route of the 1050mm-gauge Jordan Hedjaz Railway which it would replace. According to the Ministry of Transport, the total cost of constructing the line is expected to be around Dinars 1.84bn ($US 1.39bn). As Jordan’s only sea port, Aqaba will be an important hub for the railway network. The city is a gateway for freight destined for Iraq, and volumes are increasing as the political situation in Iraq stabilises. The north-south line will also carry crude oil destined for the refineries at Zarqa as well as imported cereals and containers.
Aqaba is also the main export point for phosphates and sulphur from mines in southern Jordan, which are linked to the port by the Aqaba Railway Corporation (ARC) line from Ma’an. With the completion of New Aqaba port next year, which will include the relocation of the phosphate terminal, early construction work will be focused in this area of the country. Tenders will be invited soon for the so-called Mini Project, a Dinars 53m scheme which involves building a new 28.5km standard-gauge single-track line linking the phosphate mine at Eshidiya with the ARC line south of Ma’an, conversion of the existing 1050mm- gauge Ma’an - Aqaba line to dual gauge, and the construction of a short extension to
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