Turkish-Saudi rail that bypasses Israel to link to Jordan and Syria, minister says

Countries should be linked in 3-4 years, while Gulf states, and possibly Yemen, will later be added to route that would connect region with Europe, says Turkish transport minister

Turkey and Saudi Arabia aim to build a railway to link the two countries with Jordan and Syria in the next three or four years, Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on Sunday, adding that other Gulf countries would also join the project.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Uraloglu said the railway would help alleviate future instances of the problems that have arisen from the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz caused by the war in Iran.

The project was described in a memorandum of understanding that Ankara and Riyadh signed last week on logistics cooperation and the railway sector.

Ankara boasted at the time that the project would bypass Israel and diminish its regional influence. Supporters of the Saudi monarchy also noted that the project dealt a “fatal blow” to a 2023 US-Israeli plan to link India with the Middle East, Israel and Europe. The plan hinged on Israeli-Saudi normalization, which remains distant, with Riyadh demanding irreversible progress toward Palestinian statehood, which Israel rejects.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Uraloglu said a rail link would, in its initial phase, allow for the transport of goods, oil, natural gas, and people between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Syria, and Europe.

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He added that the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and possibly Yemen would be included later too.

“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. We are talking about a route that will carry every type of freight via this route to Europe,” Uraloglu was cited as saying.

He said the route from Saudi Arabia to Jordan’s border had been finished, and, on the Turkish side, the link was completed from Islahiye to Kilis and Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, near the border with Syria.

That leaves a gap of some 400 kilometers (248.55 miles) between Syria and Jordan, he said.

In addition to commercial trade, Uraloglu said the railway could also be used by people on the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage.

Turkey, which neighbors Syria, has built close ties with the government in Damascus after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024, and has said it will help the country rebuild.

Uraloglu told Al Jazeera a financial plan would be drawn up for the rail project. The investment would include some $100 million to rebuild the route between Turkey and Syria’s Aleppo, creating a direct link to Damascus.

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