A planned railway between Turkey and Saudi Arabia is undergoing technical assessment, with financing and an implementation model still to be evaluated, Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in an interview with Saudi newspaper Al Eqtisadiah on June 22.

The link would run from the Gulf to Europe via Jordan, Syria, and Turkey, positioning Saudi Arabia as a distribution and logistics hub as the kingdom diversifies its economy and follows the route of the former Ottoman-era Hejaz railway, which was damaged by British military forces led by T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), predating Saudi Arabia. That original railway was designed to ultimately reach Mecca, but it only reached the second-holiest city, Medina, according to historical accounts. 

The project follows a memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries earlier this year.

Uraloglu said the first phase aims to define the existing infrastructure along the route, identify the works required and assess costs before evaluating financing and the execution model. Signalling, communications, border crossings and logistics operations would be unified into a single structure.

He said there were no engineering obstacles that could not be overcome, and that implementation would begin once studies were complete. Construction of more than 4,000 km of railway is under way in Turkey as a link to Europe.

The main technical challenge lay in integrating existing infrastructure and completing missing sections rather than building a new line from scratch, Uraloglu said.

Saudi Arabia's network extends to the Jordanian border, while Turkey's reaches Gaziantep, Islahiye and Kilis, leaving an estimated 400 km in Syria and Jordan that needs renewal or reconstruction.

He said a roughly 100-110 km stretch from the Turkish border to Aleppo had been heavily damaged by war and required rebuilding, while the Aleppo-Damascus line operated normally and the Damascus-Amman line needed renovation.

No figure has yet been given for the estimated cost of the projects, which are expected to be large and require several billion in initial funding, with details of which government would fund them not yet finalised. 

"What is actually at stake is the implementation of a new connectivity vision that would link the Gulf region to Europe via Turkey," said Uraloglu.

Uraloglu said disruptions during the pandemic, incidents in the Suez Canal, problems in the Strait of Hormuz and regional tensions had exposed the risks of relying on a single route, prompting countries to build more resilient networks.

He said the corridor should be considered alongside the Middle Corridor and the Development Road, and that Gulf states such as Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Oman could be included in later phases.