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Rail transport in Jordan

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Rail transport in Jordan refers to the two main railways in Jordan both of who are direct descendants of the 1908 Ottoman Hejaz railway in Jordan. The main rail is the Hedjaz Jordan Railway which operates passenger trains. The second rail is the Aqaba Railway, which closed in 2018. Aqaba Railway was a freight train that transported phosphate to the port of Aqaba until 2018. Jordan has a total of 507 km of narrow gauge railways (1,050 mm (3 ft 5+11⁄32 in)) as of 2008.

The Hedjaz Jordan Railway is the only passenger railway currently operating in Jordan, connecting Jiza, Amman, Zarqa and Mafraq. Previously it used to connect to Damascus until the Syrian Civil War caused the closure of the Jordanian-Syrian train link. The Jordanian part is narrow gauge; the rest of the Syrian network uses 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge.

Hedjaz Jordan Railway

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Hedjaz Jordan Railway
Hedjaz Jordan Railway steam locomotive traveling from Mafraq in 2000
Overview
HeadquartersAmman
Reporting markHJR
Localewestern Jordan
Dates of operation1920–present
PredecessorHejaz Railway
Technical
Track gauge1,050 mm (3 ft 5+11⁄32 in)
Length1,320 km (820 mi)
Other
Websitehttp://www.jhr.gov.jo/
Label on a locomotive of Hedjaz Jordan Railway.

The Hedjaz Jordan Railway (HJR) is one of the two successor railways to the 1908 Ottoman Hejaz Railway in Jordan. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1920, the Hedjaz Railway, formerly under Ottoman control, was divided into 2 railways: the Aqaba Railway and the Hedjaz Jordan Railway. When Jordan became independent in 1946, the HJR served as the main railway of Jordan for passengers. In 1975 the HJR built a line branch line from Ma'an to Aqaba on the Red Sea. The line was later sold to the Aqaba Railway Corporation in 1979.

Since the Syrian Civil War the Hedjaz Jordan Railway connection betwen Jordan and the Damascus terminal in Syria has been suspended.

Stations

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List of stations.[1]

Locomotives

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The following may not be a complete list.

Steam

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Steam locomotives include:[2][3]

Running number Wheel arrangement Builder and works number Date built
23 2-8-2 Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns, 7433 1951
51 2-8-2 Arnold Jung, 12081 1955
61 (63) 2-6-2T Haine St Pierre, Belgium, 2147 1955
71 2-8-2 Haine St Pierre, Belgium, 2144 1955
82 4-6-2 Nippon Sharyo, 1610 1953/1959 (sources differ)

Diesel

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Diesel locomotives include:[4]

Quantity Wheel arrangement Builder and type Date built
3 A1A-A1A GE U10B 1976

Museum

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There is a museum at Amman station. In 2003, it contained more than 250 exhibits, including murals depicting the development of the railway.[5]

Aqaba Railway

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Aqaba Railway
A phosphate train near Ma'an
Overview
HeadquartersAqaba
Reporting markARC
LocaleJordan
Dates of operation1979–2018
PredecessorHejaz Railway
Technical
Track gauge1,050 mm (3 ft 5+11⁄32 in)
Other
Websitehttps://www.arcjo.com/
A phosphate train near Ma'an.

The Aqaba Railway was a freight railway that was managed by the Aqaba Railway Corporation (ARC) and operated in southern Jordan. The railway was formed in 1979 to transport phosphate to the port in Aqaba. It partly used the tracks of the 1908 Ottoman Hejaz Railway.[6] Operations of the railway were suspended in 2018 when phosphate transport was transferred to a new terminal which is not rail connected.[7] A successor line to transport phosphate from Al Shidiya and Ghor es-Safi to the new terminal in Port of Aqaba is planned through an agreement between Jordan's Ministry for Transport and Etihad Rail.[8]

History

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In 1908 the Ottoman Empire built the Hejaz Railway, that ran from Damascus to Medina. After World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the railway never operated south of Ma'an. The Hedjaz Jordan Railway operated the tracks of the Hejaz railway in Jordan. In 1975 the railway built a branch from Ma'an to Aqaba, a port city on the Gulf of Aqaba. In 1979 the Aqaba Railway Corporation (ARC) was incorporated and took over the route from Abiad to Aqaba. The purpose of the ARC was to transport phosphates from mines near Abiad and Ma'an to the port in Aqaba. The ARC operated only freight trains powered by GE U17C diesel locomotives.[6]

History

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Jordan had two connected but non-contiguously operated sections of the 1908 Ottoman Hejaz Railway that still exist:

  • From Jiza, south of Jordan to Amman and then to Damascus, as the "Hedjaz Jordan Railway". The northern part of the train connecting Amman to Damascus ceased to operate due to the Syrian Civil War.[9]
  • From phosphate mines near Ma'an to the Gulf of Aqaba as the "Aqaba Railway". Aqaba Railway ceased operations in 2018 after the transport of phosphate was moved to a different terminal in Port of Aqaba

In the 2000s, Jordanian government began acquiring land for new rail routes. Following a study by BNP Paribas, three routes were planned, which were expected to be tendered later in 2010. The three routes were:[10]

  1. From the Syrian border, via Zarqa, to the Saudi border; replacing part of the Hejaz Railway;
  2. Connecting the first line to Aqaba, and from Mafraq to Irbid, replacing another part of the Hedjaz railway;
  3. A link to the Iraqi border.

However, in late 2010, the government announced an economic relief package and following the 2011 Jordanian protests it was decided to reduce the expected three-year capital investment plan in the national railway network by 72 percent, partly to fund the relief package.[11]

In August 2011, the Jordanian government approved the construction of the railway from Aqaba to the Iraqi border (near Trebil). Iraq started the construction of the line from the border to their current railhead at Ramadi.[12]

Jordan planned for a Aqaba-Ma'an railway modernization with the Saudi Jordanian Investment Fund. In 2019 they signed a memorandum of understanding with the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority to invest 500 million JD (around $700 million) to redevelop the Aqaba-Ma'an railway alongside building a dry port in Ma'an.[13][14] It plans to upgrade the gauge from 1050mm as built in 1975 to 1435mm Standard gauge. [14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Stations | Jordan Hejaz Railway". Jhr.gov.jo. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
  2. ^ "Jordan Hejaz Railway مؤسسة الخط الحجازي الأردني.:.The Stations". English.jh-railway.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
  3. ^ "Steam Locomotive Information". Steamlocomotive.info. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
  4. ^ Marco van Uden (2008-10-24). "Railfaneurope.net". Railfaneurope.net. Archived from the original on 2010-07-06. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
  5. ^ "Brief about the Museum | Jordan Hejaz Railway". Jhr.gov.jo. Archived from the original on 2015-10-23. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
  6. ^ a b "2.4 Jordan Railway Assessment | Digital Logistics Capacity Assessments". dlca.logcluster.org. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  7. ^ "Jordan and UAE to co-operate on Aqaba railway project". Railway Gazette International. 6 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Etihad Rail leads new railway construction in Jordan". 6 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Hejaz Railway: Turning Jordan's historic line into a park for the people". Middle East Eye. 13 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Railway Gazette: Ambitious strategy ready to start". Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  11. ^ Obeidat, Omar (14 March 2011). "Budget deficit prompts cuts in three-year development plan". The Jordan Times. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  12. ^ Construction begins on 500km Jordan-Iraq railway, Construction Week, August 24, 2011
  13. ^ Release, Press. "Saudi Jordanian Investment Fund showcases achievements and future plans". www.zawya.com. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  14. ^ a b "Jordanian ambitions, Saudi funds: A look at Saudi investments in Jordan". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
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