Turkey to reopen historic logistics link to Red Sea

Turkey is to join forces with Syria and Jordan to return the historic Hejaz railway to service, part of a wider programme of logistics cooperation between Ankara, Amman and Damascus.

Alamy via Reuters | A train on the Hejaz railway at Wadi Rum in Jordan. The restored line will link Turkey to Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba

• Hejaz railway to be revived

• Venture with Syria and Jordan

• Resumption of road freight to Jordan

The Turkish transport and infrastructure minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that the three countries would work together to return the railway to full operational status.

“The historic Hejaz railway is being revived,” the minister said. “We reached an agreement on a draft memorandum of understanding that includes multifaceted cooperation in the field of transportation between the three countries.”

Turkey will fund the restoration of a 30km stretch of the old line and install new infrastructure, linking the Turkish rail network with that of Syria and then on to Jordan’s Red Sea port of Aqaba.

The minister also announced that road freight haulage would resume to Jordan via Syria, following a 13 year disruption due to the civil war that resulted in the overthrow of the Al Assad government.

“While preserving our region’s historical heritage, we are also establishing strong cooperation in international transport corridors,” Uraloğlu said. “We will continue to work towards a shared future in transportation.”

The original Hejaz railway was opened in 1908 during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II to strengthen connectivity and trade with the outer edges of the empire and allow pilgrims heading to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina to travel in relative comfort and safety.

Sections of the railway came under attack from Arab and British forces during the First World War, with the line rendered inoperative for some years. While sections of the network were restored, notably between Jordan and Syria and within Saudi Arabia, the leg linking Turkey with the network remained broken.

In 2009 the Turkish government proposed rebuilding the section of line inside Syria that would allow full connectivity, but this plan lapsed with the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

Reviving the Hejaz railway is not simply a transportation issue, it is a strategic step directly supporting Turkey’s export vision, according to Fikret Kileci, coordinator-president of the Southeastern Anatolian Exporters’ Associations.

“This line will increase the competitive power of our exporters by having a land line to access the Middle East which is secure, faster and comes at a lower cost,” he told AGBI.

The improved connectivity with the Gulf states will decrease the logistics costs and therefore enable Turkish goods to increase their profile and accessibility in these markets, Kileci said.

“Because of this line, our exporters will be able to deliver their goods much faster to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and from there to other Gulf countries. This will help increase our current share in these markets as well as opening up to new markets.”

Turkey released a three-year economic plan this month, acknowledging its difficulties such as slower growth, rising inflation and a widening trade deficit.

Ankara will continue to run a significant trade deficit under medium-term projections, with the import-export gap expected to top $100 billion by 2028.

In mid-March the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, mayor of Istanbul and a leading figure in the opposition party CHP, triggered an equity sell-off and mass protests in the country.

By William Sellars

September 26, 2025, 2:08 PM