Turkey and Saudi Arabia signed two memorandums of understanding in Riyadh on June 9 to revive the historic Hejaz railway, with Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu telling Al Jazeera on Sunday that an overland line from Riyadh to Turkey via Syria and Jordan should be operational within three to four years. The corridor, designed to carry goods, oil, natural gas, and people toward Europe, runs through territory that excludes Israel. Ankara and Riyadh are pitching the line as both a hedge against the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz and a quiet rebuke to the US-Israeli India-Middle East-Europe trade vision.
The Ottoman-era line, damaged in World War I and largely dormant for more than a century, now has a financial commitment from the Saudi side, the most concrete step toward revival the route has seen in the modern era. The deal lands as the US-Israel-Iran war reshapes Middle East trade geography, with overland corridors now a 2026 necessity rather than a 19th-century curiosity.
Two MoUs in Riyadh, One Pilgrim Line
Uraloglu flew to Riyadh on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, to sign the two memorandums with his Saudi counterparts, Turkey’s transport ministry said. The Saudi state news agency SPA confirmed a railway cooperation MoU focused on standards, technology, and innovation, alongside a separate logistics cooperation MoU, and the Saudi state agency confirmation of the MoU followed within hours.
At the signing ceremony, Uraloglu framed the deal in the language of regional crisis. “At this sensitive time our region is going through, the uninterrupted functioning of trade and the logistics chain has become more critical than ever. In this period, removing the obstacles facing the transportation sector is a strategic necessity,” he said, according to Middle East Eye. He pointed to “two trial runs starting in Turkey and extending to Saudi Arabia via Iraq” that, he said, “clearly demonstrated the feasibility of this route.” The railway MoU commits both sides to cooperation on technology, infrastructure, digitalization, and safety standards, and the logistics MoU commits them to construction and management of logistics centers and to expanded joint services between Turkish and Saudi operators.
- Railway MoU: cooperation on technology, infrastructure, digitalization, and safety standards, with the Saudi transport ministry saying it is designed to “enhance cooperation on railway standards, technologies, and related innovations.”
- Logistics MoU: construction and management of logistics centers, plus expanded joint services between Turkish and Saudi operators.
- Trial runs via Iraq: two completed between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, demonstrating a workable southern route in the shorter term.
A 1908 Pilgrim Line Reopens
The Hejaz railway was the personal project of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II, ordered in 1900 and inaugurated in 1908. It was built with “remarkable speed” and “funded entirely by Muslim donations,” some voluntary and some coerced, to carry pilgrims, soldiers, and traders south toward Islam’s two holiest cities of Mecca and Medina.
The completed Damascus to Medina section stretched 1,300 kilometers, with a branch line reaching Haifa in Palestine. The line played an important role in regional connectivity before being severely damaged during World War I. For more than a century, the route has been largely dormant, with only fragments still in service in Syria, Jordan, and the Saudi interior.
On the Turkish side, officials are reconstructing the link from Islahiye through Kilis to Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, near the Syrian border. Uraloglu said the Turkish stretch is finished, and the Saudi side of the line to the Jordanian border is also complete. The two ends are now waiting for a middle.
The 1908 Hejaz station in Damascus, a stone landmark that long outlasted the line’s operation, has been restored in part as a heritage project, and the Al-Ula train station in Saudi Arabia has been similarly preserved. Both anchor the visual identity of the 2026 revival plan.
From Aleppo to Aqaba to the Gulf
Uraloglu’s vision, sketched first at a trilateral signing in Amman in April and then expanded in Riyadh, runs in three layers. The first layer, already in motion, is the restoration of the rail connection between Turkey and Syria’s Aleppo, then onward along the existing Aleppo-Damascus-Jordan route. The second layer, the focus of the June 9 MoU, runs the line from Jordan down into Saudi Arabia. Stretching as far as Oman and the Indian Ocean, the third layer is the long-term plan to make the Hejaz revival a continental alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.
“A train leaving from Saudi Arabia, from Riyadh already reaches several regions of Saudi Arabia. So this is a project for it to reach Turkey via Jordan and Syria,” Uraloglu told Al Jazeera. The route, he said, will “carry every type of freight via this route to Europe” and could also be used by people on the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage.
At the April 7 trilateral in Amman, Uraloglu said “Aqaba Port can serve as a land-sea bridge, transporting goods arriving from the north to the Red Sea and beyond.” The Gulf of Aqaba gives Jordan a Red Sea outlet and gives the Hejaz revival a second destination beyond the Mediterranean ports of Turkey and Syria.
| Phase | Countries | Status | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trial (Iraq route) | Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia | Two trial runs completed | Feasibility demonstrated |
| Initial | Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Europe | MoUs signed; studies underway | 3 to 4 years, per Uraloglu |
| Extended | UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, possibly Yemen | Slated for later phase | After the initial phase |
The Hormuz Disruption and the IMEC Foil
The Hejaz revival is being pitched as redundancy, not replacement. The Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted by the US-Israel-Iran war, and the regional search for overland alternatives has accelerated. The corridor’s backers frame it as a way to move oil, gas, and goods out of the Gulf without depending on the chokepoint.
Speaking at an International Institute for Strategic Studies event on June 2, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said “disruptions to maritime trade and rising shipping costs following Iran’s de facto blockade of the chokepoint had increased the need for more stable overland alternatives.” He added that such routes could carry energy, trade, food, and consumer goods between the region and global markets. The 2023 US-Israeli plan for an India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (the IMEC corridor’s official launch page) hinged on Israeli-Saudi normalization, a deal that remains distant. Riyadh has demanded irreversible progress toward Palestinian statehood (Washington’s push to recalibrate its Syria posture), which Israel rejects. The Hejaz revival is now positioned as the region’s alternative, anchored in countries that are not waiting for normalization to move goods.
Skipping Israel by Design
The original 1908 Hejaz line had a branch to Haifa, the closest the Ottoman railway ever came to the Mediterranean coast of historic Palestine. The 2026 version is being drawn on a map that avoids Israeli territory entirely. Speaking at the AA City Economies Summit in Gaziantep on Tuesday, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said the project could help “reduce Israel’s influence” while bringing “greater prosperity and stability to the Middle East, the Gulf and Turkey’s southern borders.” Ankara has been explicit that the omission of Israel from the route is part of the design.
The reduction of Israel’s influence in the region, together with increased political and economic solidarity among us, will bring economic prosperity, peace and stability to the Middle East, the Gulf and Turkey’s southern borders.
Supporters of the Saudi monarchy have called the project a “fatal blow” to the 2023 IMEC plan. Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have diplomatic relations, and the Palestinian file remains the central precondition for any future normalization.
The Hejaz revival, as our prior write-up of the same MoUs noted, is the most concrete cross-border project so far to operate on a route that avoids Israeli territory. Aqaba on the Jordanian side and the Mediterranean ports on the Turkish side serve as the only access points to the sea on the wider corridor. The geography, on the map at least, is an Arab and Turkish trade route with no Israeli waystation.
What Still Has to Be Built
The map is not yet the railway. Uraloglu told Al Jazeera that a sizeable gap in the route still sits between Syria and Jordan. The route from Saudi Arabia to Jordan’s border has been finished, and the Turkish side has rebuilt the link from Islahiye to Kilis and Gaziantep. The stretch in between, much of it running through Syrian territory that has only been under a new government since the fall of Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024, is the hardest section.
Uraloglu said a financial plan would be drawn up, with the initial Turkish investment focused on rebuilding the route between Turkey and Syria’s Aleppo, creating a direct link to Damascus. Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Saleh al-Jasser said in an April 22 interview with Al Arabiya that joint studies for the railway were expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Uraloglu put the timeline for the initial phase in the years ahead, a horizon that depends on financing, on Syrian security, and on whether the trilateral and bilateral MoUs can be turned into binding contracts. Turkey, which neighbors Syria and has built close ties with the new government in Damascus, has said it will help rebuild the country. The Hejaz revival is now part of that wider reconstruction effort. The two trial runs between Turkey and Saudi Arabia via Iraq, Uraloglu said, show that a working overland corridor is within reach.
The April 7 trilateral MoU in Amman, signed by Uraloglu, his Jordanian counterpart Nidal Qatamin, and Syrian Transport Minister Yarub Badr, sets the framework for technical coordination across rail, road, maritime, and air transport. It also calls for the integration of Mediterranean port capacity and the Gulf of Aqaba into a single logistics network. Whether the bilateral deals signed in Riyadh can move at the same pace as the trilateral framework is the open question the project now faces.
- ~400 km: the unfinished gap between Syria and Jordan
- $100 million: the initial Turkish investment to rebuild the Turkey-Aleppo link
- 3 to 4 years: Uraloglu’s horizon for the initial phase
- Two MoUs signed: Riyadh, June 9, 2026
- Trilateral signed: Amman, April 7, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Hejaz Railway?
The Hejaz Railway was an Ottoman-era line ordered by Sultan Abdulhamid II in 1900 and inaugurated in 1908. It ran from Damascus to Medina, with a branch to Haifa, and was built to carry pilgrims, soldiers, and traders across the Arabian Peninsula. It was severely damaged in World War I and has been largely dormant for more than a century. The 2026 revival is being staged by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, with Syria and Jordan as the connecting territory.
Why is Turkey reviving it now?
Turkish officials link the revival to a single trigger: the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz by the US-Israel-Iran war. Uraloglu said the urgency is now critical for the region’s trade and logistics chains, and pointed to two trial runs between Turkey and Saudi Arabia via Iraq as proof that overland routes work. Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies on June 2, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the disruption had increased the need for stable overland alternatives that could carry energy, trade, and consumer goods.
How does the route bypass Israel?
The original 1908 line had a branch to Haifa, in what is now Israel. The 2026 version is being routed through Syria and Jordan, and skips Israeli territory entirely. The line connects Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia in its initial phase, with the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and possibly Yemen to be added later. The route then extends to Europe through Turkish territory, and to the Red Sea through Jordan’s port of Aqaba.
Which Gulf countries are joining?
Uraloglu told Al Jazeera that the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman would be included in the project after the initial phase, and that Yemen would possibly join as well. Saudi Arabia’s existing north-south rail network, which already reaches several regions from Riyadh, would serve as the joining point on the Arabian Peninsula. The longer-term plan is to extend the corridor to Oman and the Indian Ocean.
How long until the railway opens?
Uraloglu told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the initial phase, running from Turkey through Syria and Jordan to Saudi Arabia and onward to Europe, should be operational in three to four years. Saudi Minister of Transport Saleh al-Jasser told Al Arabiya in April that joint studies for the railway were expected to be completed by the end of 2026. The 400 km gap between Syria and Jordan, plus the financing of the wider project, has yet to be worked out.
