en.Wedoany.com Reported - Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu confirmed that a railway corridor plan connecting Saudi Arabia and Turkey has been finalized, with the route passing through Jordan and Syria and expected to be completed within three to four years. The total investment for the project is estimated at $5.5 billion, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has committed $750 million for the railway infrastructure on the Turkish section. The line is designed to transport goods, oil, natural gas, and passengers, while also serving as a land alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

According to the project plan, the corridor will connect Saudi Arabia's existing railway network with lines in southeastern Turkey. The Saudi network already extends to the Jordanian border at the Haditha border crossing, while Turkey's network connects via Islahiye, Kilis, and Gaziantep. Currently, a missing section of approximately 400 kilometers between Syria and Jordan still needs to be constructed, and $100 million has been allocated to restore the railway from Turkey to Aleppo and establish a direct connection to Damascus. A feasibility study covering the entire corridor is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. The first phase of the project will transport goods, hydrocarbons, and passengers, while later phases will connect other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and possibly Yemen, as well as Iraq. The corridor is also seen as a potential route for the annual Hajj pilgrimage and may integrate logistics plans related to Saudi Arabia's NEOM project to support Riyadh's ambition to become a global logistics hub under Vision 2030.

This Turkey-Saudi corridor is viewed as a direct competitor to the stalled India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). Proposed in 2023 with support from the United States, India, and the European Union, IMEC is estimated to cost around $20 billion and was planned to pass through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel to reach Europe. The project has stalled due to its reliance on the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh linking normalization conditions to irreversible progress on Palestinian statehood. In contrast, the new railway line completely bypasses Israel, adopting a historically established route through Syria and Jordan, with a capital cost approximately one-quarter that of IMEC.

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