| Hejaz railway | |
| Other Name: | Hedjaz railway |
| Native Name: | Arabic: سِكَّة حَدِيد الحِجَاز Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928);: حجاز دمیریولی |
| Map Name: | The railway in 1908 |
| Locale: | Southern Syria, Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia |
| Tracklength Km: | 1320 |
| Start: | Damascus |
| End: | Medina |
| Maxincline: | 1.8 ‰ (0.18 %) |
| Minradius: | 1000NaN0 |
The Hejaz railway (also spelled Hedjaz or Hijaz; Arabic: سِكَّة حَدِيد الحِجَاز or Arabic: الخَط الحَدِيدِي الحِجَازِي, Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928);: حجاز دمیریولی, Turkish: Hicaz Demiryolu) was a narrow-gauge railway (track gauge) that ran from Damascus to Medina, through the Hejaz region of modern day Saudi Arabia, with a branch line to Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea. The project was ordered by the Ottoman sultan in March 1900.[1]
It was a part of the Ottoman railway network and the original goal was to extend the line from the Haydarpaşa Terminal in Kadıköy, Istanbul beyond Damascus to the Islamic holy city of Mecca. However, construction was interrupted due to the outbreak of World War I, and it reached only to Medina, 400km (200miles) short of Mecca. The completed Damascus to Medina section was 1300km (800miles).
The main purpose of the railway was to establish a connection between Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire and the seat of the Islamic Caliphate, and Hejaz in Arabia, the site of the holiest shrines of Islam and Mecca, the destination of the Hajj annual pilgrimage. Other objectives were to improve the economic and political integration of the distant Arabian provinces into the Ottoman state, and to facilitate the transportation of military forces.
Prior to the construction of the line, it took 40 days from Damascus to Medina.[2] The railway shortened the time to 5 days.
Railways were experiencing a building boom in the late 1860s, and the Hejaz region was one of the many areas up for speculation. The first such proposal involved a railway stretching from Damascus to the Red Sea. This plan was soon dashed however, as the Amir of Mecca raised objections regarding the sustainability of his own camel transportation project should the line be constructed.[3]
Ottoman involvement in the creation of a railway began with Colonel Ahmed Reshid Pasha, who, after surveying the region on an expedition to Yemen in 1871–1873, concluded that the only feasible means of transport for Ottoman soldiers traveling there was by rail. Other Ottoman officers, such as Osman Nuri Pasha, also offered up proposals for a railway in the Hejaz, arguing its necessity if security in the Arabian region were to be maintained.[4]
Many around the world did not believe that the Ottoman Empire would be able to fund such a project: it was estimated the railway would cost around 4 million Turkish lira, a sizeable portion of the budget. The Ziraat Bankasi, a state bank which served agricultural interests in the Ottoman Empire, provided an initial loan of 100,000 lira in 1900. This initial loan allowed the project to commence later the same year. Abdulhamid II called on all Muslims in the world to make donations to the construction of the Hejaz Railway.[5] The project had taken on a new significance. Not only was the railway to be considered an important military feature for the region, it was also a religious symbol. Hajis, pilgrims on their way to the holy city of Mecca, often didn't reach their destination when travelling along the Hejaz route. Unable to contend with the tough, mountainous conditions, up to 20% of hajis died on the way.[4]
Abdulhamid was adamant that the railway stand as a symbol for Muslim power and solidarity: this rail line would make the religious pilgrimage easier not only for Ottomans, but all Muslims. As a result, no foreign investment in the project was to be accepted. The Donation Commission was established to organize the funds effectively, and medallions were given out to donors. Despite propaganda efforts such as railway greeting cards, only about 1 in 10 donations came from Muslims outside of the Ottoman Empire. One of these donors, however, was Muhammad Inshaullah, a wealthy Punjab
Access to resources was a significant stumbling block during construction of the Hejaz Railway. Water, fuel, and labor were particularly difficult to find in the more remote reaches of the Hejaz. In the uninhabited areas, camel transportation was employed not only for water, but also food and building materials. Fuel, mostly in the form of coal, was brought in from surrounding countries and stored in Haifa and Damascus.
Labor was certainly the largest obstacle in the construction of the railway. In the more populated areas, much of the labor was fulfilled by local settlers as well as Muslims in the area, who were legally obliged to lend their hands to the construction. This labor was largely employed in the treacherous excavation efforts involved in railway construction. In the more remote areas the railway would be reaching, a more novel solution was put to use. Much of this work was completed by railway troops of soldiers, who in exchange for their railway work, were exempt from one third of their military service.[4]
As the rail line traversed treacherous terrain, many bridges and overpasses had to be built. Since access to concrete was limited, many of these overpasses were made of carved stone and stand to this day.
The Emir Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca viewed the railway as a threat to Arab suzerainty, since it provided the Ottomans with easy access to their garrisons in Hejaz, Asir, and Yemen. From its outset, the railway was the target of attacks by local Arab tribes. These were never particularly successful, but neither were the Turks able to control areas more than a mile or so either side of the line. Due to the locals' habit of pulling up wooden sleepers to fuel their camp-fires, some sections of the track were laid on iron sleepers.
In September 1907, as crowds celebrated the rail reaching Al-'Ula station, a rebellion organized by the tribe of Harb threatened to halt progress. The rebels objected to the railway stretching all the way to Mecca; they feared they would lose their livelihood as camel transport was made obsolete.[6] It was later decided by Abdulhamid that the railway would only go so far as Medina.
Under the supervision of chief engineer Mouktar Bey, the railway reached Medina on 1 September 1908, the anniversary of the Sultan's accession.[7] However, many compromises had to be made in order to finish by this date, with some sections of track being laid on temporary embankments across wadis. In 1913 the Hejaz Railway Station was opened in central Damascus as the starting point of the line.
To fuel locomotives operating on the railway during World War I, the German Army produced shale oil from the Yarmouk oil shale deposit.[8] [9] The Turks constructed a military railway from the Hejaz line to Beersheba, opening on 30 October 1915.[10]
The Hejaz line was repeatedly attacked and damaged, particularly during the Arab Revolt, when Ottoman trains were ambushed by the guerrilla force led by T. E. Lawrence.
With the Arab Revolt and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, it was unclear to whom the railway should belong. The area was divided between the British and the French, both eager to assume control. However, following years of neglected maintenance, many sections of track fell into disrepair; the railway was effectively abandoned by 1920. In 1924, when Ibn Saud took control of the peninsula, plans to revive the railway were no longer on the agenda.
In the second world war, the Samakh Line (from Haifa to Deraa at the Syrian border and to Damascus) was operated for the Allied forces by the New Zealand Railway Group 17th ROC, from Afula (with workshops at Deraa and Haifa). The locomotives were 1914 Borsig and 1917 Hartmann models from Germany. The line, which had been operated by the Vichy French, was in disrepair. Trains over the steep section between Samakh (now Ma'agan) and Derea were 230 tons maximum, with 1,000 tons moved in 24 hours. The group also ran 60 miles (95 km) of branch line, including Afula to Tulkarm.[14]
The railway south of the modern Jordanian–Saudi Arabian border remained closed after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1920. An attempt was made to rebuild it in the mid-1960s, but then abandoned due to the Six-Day War in 1967.[15]
Two connected sections of the main line are in service:
Israel Railways partially rebuilt the long-defunct Haifa extension, the Jezreel Valley railway, using standard gauge, with the possibility of someday extending it to Irbid in Jordan. The rebuilt line opened from Haifa to Beit She'an in October 2016.
Saudi Arabia completed the construction of the Medina-Mecca line (via Jeddah) with the Haramain high-speed railway in 2018.
Azmi Nalshik the head of Jordan Hejaz Railways said that the railways is considered a waqf, meaning it belongs to all muslims and therefore cannot be sold.
On 4 February 2009 the Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım said in Riyadh that Turkey planned to rebuild its section, and called on Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria to come together and complete the restoration.[17]
Also in 2009, Jordan's transport ministry proposed a 990-mile (1590-km) US$5 billion rail network, construction of which could begin in the first quarter of 2012. The planned network would provide freight rail links from Jordan to Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Passenger rail connections could be extended to Lebanon, Turkey and beyond. The government, which will fund part of the project, is inviting tenders from private firms to raise the rest of the project cost.
In November 2018, Middle East Monitor revealed Saudi-Israel's joint plans to revive the railway from Haifa to Riyadh.[18]
Railway mechanics have restored many of the original steam-powered locomotives: there are nine in working order in Syria and seven in Jordan.
Since the accession of King Abdullah II in 1999, relations between Jordan and Syria have improved, causing a revival of interest in the railway. The train runs from Qadam station in the outskirts of Damascus, not from the Hejaz Station, which closed in 2004 due to a major commercial development project.Trains run from Khadam station on demand (usually from German, British or Swiss groups). The northern part of the Zabadani track is no longer accessible.
In 2008, the "museum of the rolling stock of Al-Hejaz railway" opened in Damascus' Khadam station after major renovations for an exhibition of the locomotives.
An exhibit on the railway's cultural heritage opened in 2019 at Darat al-Funun in Amman.[19]
As of 2006, there is a small railway museum at the station in Mada'in Saleh in Saudi Arabia[20] and a larger project in the "Hejaz Railway Museum" in Medina, which opened in 2006.[21] The museum, which is dedicated to the history and archeology of Medina is 90,000 square meters.[22] The Medina Terminus was restored in 2005 with railway tracks and locomotive shed.
Small non-operating sections of the railway track, buildings and rolling stock are still preserved as tourist attractions in Saudi Arabia. The old railway bridge over the Aqiq Valley at Medina though was demolished in 2005 due to damage from heavy rain the year before.[23]
Trains destroyed by local Arab, French, and British troops during WWI and the Arab Revolt of 1916–1918 can still be seen where they were attacked.[24]
Some of the stations were located near the traditional Hajj caravan stations, where the Ottomans had built fortified inns (see Ottoman Hajj route).
The Arabic word for station is "mahattat". The Ottoman- and interwar-period spelling tends to be simpler than the current official ones.
Pre-WWI, the Ottomans used French spelling.
. Edward Mead Earle . Turkey, the great powers, and the Bagdad Railway: a study in imperialism . November 13, 2013 . 1923 . Macmillan . New York .