The Hejaz Railway in Saudi Arabia

 

The Hejaz railway (الخَط الحَدِيدِي الحِجَازِي) can also be visited at some sections in Saudi Arabia [1]. I had visited the Hejaz Railway in Jordan three years ago and had already written about it [2]. The Hejaz Railway ran from Damascus to Medina. The name Hejaz Railway had been coined, because a very long stretch of the 1300 km was operating in the Hejaz region in Saudi Arabia. The Hejaz region is composed of Mecca, Medina, Ta'if and Al Abwa, with more 460,000 sqk, which would place the size of this region between the states of Cameroon and Papua New Guinea. Construction began in 1900 – according to an order issued by Sultan Abdul Hamid II in March 1900 – and parts of the railway opened in 1907. It operated between 1908 and 1920, with interruptions during World War I. The original idea was to shorten the travel time for pilgrims to Mecca, but it later became apparent that such a railway could be used for military transport. This is where Lawrence of Arabia comes into play, as he and Prince Faisal recruited in Wadi Rum and “fought a guerrilla-style war by disrupting train passages on the Hejaz Railway” [3].

Let's return to the pilgrims to Mecca. About 100 years ago, it took 40 days to travel from Damascus to Mecca. With the Hejaz Railway, this time was reduced to five days. Today, the railway is no longer needed for this purpose. While some pilgrims still arrive by ship across the Red Sea, their numbers are very small, as most arrive by plane, landing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. King Abdulaziz International Airport operates a special terminal for pilgrims during the pilgrimage month of Dhu al-Hijjah [Dhu al-Hijjah ( ذُو ٱلْحِجَّة) ].

Now I saw three parts of the railway line and visited two stations:
Al-Buwayr Station (محطة البوير قطار الحجاز) محطة البوير قطار الحجا), about 100 km from  Medina and there the terminus: The Hejaz Railway Museum (متحف سكة الحجاز), Hijaz Railway Museum – Medina: "The museum is considered one of the historical tourist destinations in Madinah. It was established in 1419 AH, corresponding to 1998 AD, and was inaugurated by Prince Abdulmajeed ibn Abdulaziz. It is located on Omar Ibn Al-Khattab St, King Abdulaziz Square in Anbariya. It is about 1,020 meters away from the Prophet’s Mosque. Temporarily closed." [4]

I would have liked to see the old train station at Mada'in Saleh, which was only two kilometers as the crow flies from my hotel, but Hegra lies in between, so it wasn't possible to walk there; and then there wasn't time, and it didn't fit into the day's sightseeing and travelling schedule either, since the Al-Buwayr Station was being visited that day.

You can see entire trains and locomotives, and it's also possible to see the track gauge and the section of track. Both sites were currently closed. The building of the terminal station in Medina is built in the Ottoman style from basalt blocks and still looks impressive despite the high-rise buildings in Medina.

Even though the museum was closed, one could still get a good impression of the railway line. There were efforts underway to reopen it, but that's wishful thinking. The railway has made history, and that should be enough.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hejaz_railway
[2] The Hejaz Railway at Wadi Rum 
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-hejaz-railway-at-wadi-rum.html
[3] https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hejaz-railway-train-wadi-rum
[4] https://www.visitsaudi.com/en/madinah/attractions/hijaz-railway-museum-in-madinah

.