Jordan
a new phosphate transhipment terminal south of Aqaba. The project also includes the construction of a balloon loop at Eshidiya to allow continuous loading of phosphate trains. Locomotives and wagons for the Mini Project will come from the existing ARC fleet and will be refurbished and regauged for the launch of standard- gauge operations. Jordan’s transport minister Mr Alaa Batayneh told delegates at the International Union of Railways’ (UIC) Regional Assembly of the Middle East High Level Conference in Amman on November 5 that feasibility studies and due diligence had been completed and land acquisition had started on the initial phase. A second line will branch off the north-south axis near Zarqa, following the route of Highway 10 for around 290km to reach the Iraqi frontier near Tarbil Border Crossing. Iraq has completed feasibility studies on the construction of a connecting line from Ramadi to Tarbil and a preliminary agreement on the link was signed by representatives of the two governments in 2011, although the current status of this project is unclear. The third section of the
JNRP is a 90.5km link from a junction with the Zarqa - Tarbil line east of Amman to the Saudi border near of Haditha, where it will meet the Saudi North South Railway to Riyadh and the Persian Gulf. This final segment will be crucial to realising Jordan’s goal of becoming a transit country for freight between Europe and the Gulf States. All of the lines will be diesel- operated with a maximum train length of 3000m. The total cost of the
construction is Dinars 2.4bn at 2010 prices and the government expects the network to generate an internal rate of return of 16%. The JNRP will be implemented on a build- transfer-operate basis, and a 100% state-owned company, Jordan Railway Corporation (JRC), has been established which will finance the network through government debt and oversee construction.
20
Tel Aviv
Jerusalem Dead Sea Be’er Sheva Qatranah
The operation and maintenance of the network will be tendered as a PPP concession with a minimum 30-year term. The concessionaire will acquire all locomotives and rolling stock, with an initial investment of around $US 550m. Mr Laith Dababneh, assistant secretary general of the Ministry of Transport told delegates at the conference in Amman that ARC will be merged into the new companies. With the focus on transit traffic,
interoperability has been a key consideration from an early stage of the JNRP’s development. Jordan and its neighbours signed a multilateral agreement in 2003 which set minimum technical standards for international rail corridors, and Jordan is an associate member of the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail. JRC is also working with the European Union’s Euromed project team, which is helping to establish a national railway safety authority and ensure the network meets international standards.
Jordan ISRAEL Mafraq Zarqa Amman Azraq Omary Haditha
SAUDI ARABIA
Qurayyat
to Riyadh and Raz AlKhair
Har Zin Hasa 1050mm-gauge
Existing lines To be converted to standard gauge
Ma’an Eshidiya N Eilat
Aqaba Port Aqaba
Batn el Ghul 0 km 50 IRJ
1435mm-gauge Existing lines Being built Planned
to Damascus Dara Basra to Tarbil SYRIA
Jordan National Railway projected traffic
2020
Phosphate/sulphur/ phosphoric acid
Cereals
Petroleum products Containers Cement Other Total
1.29 8.86 0.83 0.87 1.57
19.10 2030
(million tonnes) 5.90
5.90 1.48
11.92 1.42 1.11 2.13
23.62
Naturally a project on this scale is susceptible to broader economic and political developments, and the JNRP is to some extent at the mercy of the current turbulence in the region. The long-term impact of the savage conflict in Syria and the upheaval that will inevitably follow in its aftermath makes the prospects for transit freight traffic to and from Europe difficult to predict. Jordan is also grappling with its own financial challenges, which have been exacerbated by the banking crisis and the global economic downturn. In an effort to reduce the
current high levels of public debt and qualify for financial assistance from the IMF, the government has begun implementing spending cuts, and while the outlook for 2013 is slightly better than it was a year ago with 3.5% growth in GDP forecast, fiscal restraint looks set to remain a defining theme. Batayneh told the conference in Amman on November 5 that the first phase is facing delays and on November 12 the Jordan Timesreported that the cabinet had suspended land acquisition for the project until the condition of the treasury becomes clearer. Despite these difficulties the JNRP still enjoys considerable support from Jordan’s Arabian neighbours. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has offered to back the project as part a $US 5bn development package for Jordan agreed by its members in December 2011. As part of this, Kuwait transferred a $US 250m grant to the Jordan Central Bank in October last year. According to the Jordan
IRJ February 2013
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