The Hejaz Railway: A Relevance Renewed
The Hejaz Railway offers a captivating glimpse into the political, economic, strategic, and technological issues of the times in which it was conceived and executed. For present day Middle East, these are the very aspects in which it finds a renewed relevance.
Built on the orders of the Ottoman ruler Sultan Abdulhameed II in the early part of the 20th century, the Hejaz Railway’s main purpose was to provide an efficient and safe means of transportation for pilgrims from Asia, Europe and the Levant to the holy cities of Mecca and Medinah. It lived up to this purpose, replacing a more than forty day perilous journey by camel caravan with a three to four day train ride. Both strategically and economically, the Hejaz Railway became an embodiment of the Muslim spirit. It was funded by donations from Muslims all over the world, and due it its ability to transport greater numbers of pilgrims to the holy cities, was instrumental in higher revenues being realized at these centres. By facilitating the meeting of pilgrims from the world over it become an important tool in increasing Islamic ties. The railways were a political win for the Ottomans, however, in the latter half of its short functioning lifespan (around a decade), the railway became a tool in the Arab Revolt. On the technological side, the building of the railway was a feat in itself, since considerable innovation and will was required to overcome the extreme weather and terrain conditions.
In present day, the idea of a revival of the Hejaz Railway is increasingly gathering steam from multiple stakeholders in the Middle East. Politically, the region is seeing new alliances being built, with existing ones being strengthened. The regeneration of the physical rail route with connectivity to wider operational and planned rail systems in the region could have multiple strategic and economic benefits. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it could create linkages to the Landbridge Rail Project, in turn connecting to the planned GCC Railway across the countries on the Arabian Gulf. Through Israel, vital links to the Mediterranean could be possible. All these, in turn, could plug in to lager global systems such as the critical trade traffic between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, and the Chinese led Belt and Road initiative. From a technological perspective, the recently completed and operational Haramain High Speed Rail link between Mecca and Medinah is a technical feat which could inform future rail developments in the region, being built for similar climatic and topographical conditions.
The Hejaz Railway was an embodiment of a transformative and unifying spirit in its inception more than a century ago. Its revival could see its catalytic spirit influencing another century.