The Arab Mashreq International Railway is a proposed

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

network in the

Mashriq The Mashriq ( ar, ٱلْمَشْرِق), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, located in Western Asia and eastern North Africa. Poetically the "Place of Sunrise", the n ...

, which is located in

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

and eastern

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

in the eastern part of the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

. The planned network has north–south and east–west axes, and 16 different routes covering 19500 route-km. The plan is ambitious; 60% of the routes have not yet been built, and parts of existing railway infrastructure are weak or have gauge differences; some states may be unable to make large investments in

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

. Like the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Trans-European Transport Network The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is a planned network of roads, railways, airports and water infrastructure in the European Union. The TEN-T network is part of a wider system of Trans-European Networks (TENs), including a telecommunic ...

, the Agreement specifies a family of high-priority international routes, rather than setting service details or awarding contracts to operators.

International agreement

The Agreement on International Railways in the Arab Mashreq was adopted on 17 April 2003. It entered into force on 23 May 2005 after it had been ratified by

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. As of July 2016, it has been ratified by 12 states: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the State of Palestine, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Routes

* R05: Iraq - Kuwait - Saudi Arabia * R15: Jordan - Saudi Arabia * R25: Syria - Jordan - Saudi Arabia - Yemen * R27: Syria * R35: Syria - Lebanon * R45: Egypt * R10: Iraq - Syria * R20: Syria * R30: Syria - Lebanon * R40: Iraq - Jordan * R50: Gaza - Egypt * R60: Egypt * R70: Egypt * R80: Saudi Arabia * R82: Qatar * R90: Oman - Yemen

Jordan

joined OTIF in August 2010, and plans to become a hub for international rail transport. In 2011-2014, Jordan's Ministry of Transport plans to invest €2·6bn in rail infrastructure connected to the Arab Mashreq International Railway Network.

Technical standards

The railway network will be built to , and UIC/B

loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...

References

{{Asia in topic, Rail transport in Proposed public transport in Asia Proposed rail infrastructure in Saudi Arabia International railway lines International railway lines in Asia

International agreement

Routes

Jordan

Technical standards

See also

References