Turkey restores railway lines along the Syrian border
Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Oraloglu announced the completion of renovation works on a number of railway lines adjacent to the Syrian border as an important step in strengthening the logistics infrastructure between the two countries.
The Turkish minister said in statements quoted by Turkish media that the border lines were restored to service after providing them with a more robust and robust infrastructure and superstructure, as part of an integrated project aimed at ensuring its long-term operational readiness.
The renovation operations included the 325-kilometer Karkamesh-Nusaybin lines, and the 25-kilometer Mardin-Şenyurt line, with the reopening of the track to train traffic, he said, noting that the works carried out went beyond the usual maintenance work to include a comprehensive modernization process to address needs accumulated over the years.
Railway cooperation between Syria and Turkey is witnessing a gradual return after years of interruption, driven by common economic and logistical needs and within a broader regional framework that includes Jordan and Iraq, where specialized reports predict that the Middle East will witness one of the most important rail connectivity projects over the next decade.
The minister spoke about the great efforts made in view of the great difficulties due to the suspension of maintenance work since 2024 along the 350-kilometer line, expressing his hope that "its restart will raise the capacity of the transport of goods and support regional integration", referring to the tripartite memorandum of understanding with Syria and Jordan signed on April 7 on mechanisms for the development of the transport and logistics sectors between the three countries.
Syrian, Turkish-Jordanian cooperation in rail transport
The MoU, which was signed during the meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee in Amman, Jordan, included the establishment of an institutional and technical framework for cooperation in the fields of land, sea and rail transport, the formation of joint committees and working teams, and the development of unified sectoral plans to ensure coordination of efforts and unify procedures.
The MoU also called for cooperation to enhance regional rail connectivity through a tripartite technical committee, develop land, sea and rail transport, improve infrastructure, facilitate the movement of freight and passengers, and simplify border procedures, thus contributing to raising the efficiency of supply chains, enhancing trade exchange, and supporting transit between the three countries.
Syria's efforts to restore transit trade
In this context, the Ministry of Transport announced a work program with a specific timetable for the restart of the railway line with Turkey and Iraq, which includes assessing the readiness of stations, locomotives and tankers and meeting the urgent needs for rehabilitation work.
Syria seeks to reintroduce the line into international transport and stimulate imports and transit trade, as it is one of the vital corridors that connect the country to its regional surroundings and support the movement of shipping between Turkey and Iraq through Syrian territory.
The railway network in Syria faces a number of challenges that hinder the restoration of its full operational capacity, despite efforts to rehabilitate it, foremost among which is the lack of funding necessary to implement maintenance and modernization projects, in addition to the damage to infrastructure on large distances of the lines as a result of years of shutdowns and security conditions.
The network also suffers from a shortage of modern locomotives and vehicles capable of meeting current transport requirements, as well as logistical difficulties in border areas that require special operational arrangements, in addition to the need for stable regional cooperation that ensures the smooth flow of transit movement and restores Syria's role as a logistical corridor between neighboring countries.