Hejaz Railway

The Hejaz Railway was a narrow gauge railway (105 cm) that ran from Damascus to Medina, through the Hejaz region of Arabia, with a branch line to Haifa, Palestine, on the Mediterranean Sea.

It was a part of the Ottoman railway network and was built in order to extend the previously existing line between Istanbul and Damascus (which began from the Haydarpaşa Terminal) all the way to the holy city of Mecca (eventually being able to reach only Medina due to the interruption of the construction works caused by the outbreak of World War I).

The main purpose of the Hejaz 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 the holy city of Mecca, which is the yearly pilgrimage destination of the Hajj. Another important reason was to improve the economic and political integration of the distant Arabian provinces into the Ottoman state, and to facilitate the transportation of military troops in case of need.

The railway is remarkable both for having had no debt when completed and for having many miles of track below sea-level.


Hejaz Station in Damascus, the starting point of the railroad. Extension of the existing line from Turkey to Damascus to link Turkey to Medina.

The map of the railroad (and pretty much our travel route also)