Riyadh: A Saudi minister announced that studies for a railway link connecting Saudi Arabia to Trkiye via Jordan and Syria are expected to be finalized before the end of the year.

According to Anadolu Agency, Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Saleh al-Jasser shared the update during an interview with Saudi television Al Arabiya. He highlighted the project's potential to enhance regional integration, support trade, and develop a sustainable land transport system between the region's countries.

The minister noted that Saudi Arabia's national railway network already extends to the Jordanian border through the al-Haditha crossing, establishing it as a strategic point for future regional and international connectivity. He assured that Saudi ports and corridors are working cohesively to maintain regional trade and facilitate the movement of goods.

Al-Jasser further mentioned that Saudi Arabia has the capacity to handle over 17 million containers annually, underscoring the importance of Saudi ports in receiving containers from Gulf states.

Earlier, on April 3, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu indicated Ankara's plans to extend railway lines to Aleppo in Syria as part of efforts to revive the historic Hejaz Railway. The Hejaz Railway, a significant historical infrastructure project built between 1900 and 1908, originally stretched about 1,322 kilometers from Damascus to Medina in Saudi Arabia and was later expanded to nearly 1,900 kilometers with additional lines.