Lebanon has launched a vital and strategic project aimed at restarting part of the railway network, which has been out of service for many decades, through a land route linking the port of Tripoli to the Lebanese-Syrian border, in a move aimed at strengthening the country's position within regional transport and shipping networks and benefiting from the growing logistics connectivity projects in the Arab region.

The German news agency dpa quoted the Director General of the Lebanese Railways and Joint Transport, Ziad Shea, as confirming that work is being done responsibly to prepare the appropriate ground to link the port to the border, specifically at the Aboudia area, pointing out that the administration has already put forward the terms of reference for the technical and engineering study about a month ago, in preparation for reaching the stage of the conditions for the future supply of the line.

Cooperation Protocol and Dimensions of Regional Linkage

According to Shea, the executive plan for the Lebanese project was based on a joint cooperation protocol signed about seven months ago between the General Railway Corporation, the Directorate of Joint Transport and the Board of Directors of the Tripoli Port, under the direct auspices of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, in order to rehabilitate this vital route and its branches extending towards the airport of Al-Qulayat and the special economic zone in the north of the country.

Shea explained that the master plan takes into account the regional connectivity projects that are being worked on, pointing out that the northern line will connect to the international Hejaz line, which starts from the Arab Gulf countries, specifically from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, repeatedly through Jordan, to Homs and Aleppo in Syria, and from there to Istanbul in Turkey and then the European continent.

Economic feasibility

The repercussions of the recent US-Iran war and the security threats associated with the safety of maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz have prompted the intensification of Arab discussions and technical studies on iron connectivity projects, amid growing international interest in diversifying transport routes and supply chains through more efficient and safer land corridors.

He explained that the initial economic and financial indicators indicated a huge investment feasibility for the project, as the Director General of the Railways revealed that the cost of transporting goods and freight by train will be 70% to 80% lower compared to other means of land and transit transport, which gives the port of Tripoli a major competitive advantage as a main gateway to connect with the Syrian interior and the Arab depth.

He explained that the logistical importance of the project has been strengthened with the existence of parallel plans to develop René Mouawad Airport in Qulayat to serve passengers and air cargo traffic, thus forming a square and an integrated economic system whose main nerve is the railway network.

Shea expressed his hope that the Lebanese arena will witness serious features of the actual train route by 2027, stressing that the issue of the real estate acquisitions necessary for the project exists and is only waiting for the political conviction to start implementation and address traffic congestion crises.

The legacy of Lebanese rail transport

Lebanon's rail network infrastructure has been ingrained since the early part of the last century, with the Tripoli-Homs line being a key commercial and historical artery connecting the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea to the regional geographic depth before its wheels came to a complete halt due to the events of the civil war.

The renewed development hopes in June 2026 were linked to the need to exploit the existing real estate infrastructure and integrate with the Hejaz regional line, which would allow the dismantling of the logistical isolation of northern Lebanon and its integration with the tributaries of the comprehensive Arab economic system to face the fluctuations of international maritime navigation routes.