Minister of Transport: Activating road transit with neighboring countries before the end of 2026

The Minister of Transport, Dr. Yarub Badr, stressed that Syria is working hard to restore its pivotal historical role as a land bridge and a strategic regional corridor for the transit of goods and trade exchange between the continents of Asia, Europe and the Arabian Gulf region, through an integrated package of measures and executive plans, and regional understandings aimed at reactivating transit traffic and developing rail connectivity with neighboring countries before the end of 2026.

Road Transit: Immediate readiness pending understandings

Minister Badr explained in a statement to SANA on Sunday that Syria's unique geographical location has given it an emerging role in international transport for decades, indicating that the restoration of truck transit is possible immediately with neighboring countries, provided that full understandings are reached that meet common interests.

The Minister of Transport revealed that there is continuous coordination and understandings that are being strengthened with Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to overcome the current obstacles, expecting to achieve tangible results on the ground with regard to the movement of goods by trucking before the end of 2026, especially after the signing of the recent memorandum of understanding between Syria, Turkey and Jordan, and the outcomes of the high-level talks with the Saudi side.

Revitalization of the railway network and the strategic corridor

With regard to the rail transport sector, Minister Badr pointed out that the reactivation of this vital artery requires a longer period of time compared to land transport, due to the significant damage caused to infrastructure and iron links with neighboring countries during the past years. The Minister reviewed the reality of the railway ports as follows:

 Linking with Turkey: Syria has two railway links through the two points (Meydan Ikeps and Al-Rai), and they are currently undergoing investment plans to bring them back into service.

Linkage with Jordan: Work is underway based on joint understandings to maintain and rehabilitate parts of the "Old Hejaz Line", and the minister confirmed that its repair is possible before the end of 2026 in the event of the implementation of the promised Turkish support.

Future strategic project: Proposing the construction of a new railway line with modern specifications linking Damascus to the Jordanian border, to be completed by the Jordanian side to reach the "Qurayyat" area on the Saudi border, at an estimated cost exceeding hundreds of millions of dollars.

International support and local logistics partnerships

In a significant development, Minister Badr revealed to SANA that ongoing cooperation with the World Bank to provide technical and financing support for the Syrian railway sector, with an estimated value ranging between $65 million and $200 million, stressing that this support will be in the form of "grants, not loans", and its priority is focused on restarting the transit corridor that connects Turkey to Syria, Jordan and Iraq.

At the domestic level, the minister pointed to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Syrian Railways Corporation and the Latakia International Container Terminal Company, which aims to link the coastal ports with the dry ports in (Adra, Hassiya and Aleppo), in order to ensure the smooth transport of containers and the development of the entire Syrian logistics system.

Nissan Bilateral and Tripartite Logistics Memorandum

 The Minister of Transport's remarks complement the official memorandum of understanding signed last April between Syria, Turkey and Jordan, which established an institutional framework to unify digital logistics standards, and streamline cross-border smart systems and solutions to ensure the sustainability of regional trade corridors.