Ziya Mammadov

Türkiye’s initiative to revive the historic Hejaz Railway represents far more than a transportation project — it reflects a broader strategic vision to establish a new multimodal trade corridor connecting the Gulf region with Türkiye and onward to Europe.

The proposed railway network could integrate some of the Middle East’s most influential economies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Türkiye. By creating a continuous rail connection across the region, the project has the potential to provide an efficient complement to traditional maritime routes while reducing dependence on critical maritime chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz.

From a logistics perspective, a modernized Hejaz Railway could generate several strategic advantages:

• Diversification of regional supply chains and transport routes;
• Reduced transit times for selected cargo flows between the Gulf and Europe;
• Enhanced resilience against disruptions affecting maritime transportation;
• Stronger intermodal integration between ports, logistics hubs, industrial zones, and inland markets;
• Deeper regional economic integration and improved trade facilitation across the Middle East.

The railway could also complement emerging regional logistics initiatives and contribute to the development of integrated freight corridors linking Gulf ports with Mediterranean and European markets.

An additional dimension that deserves particular attention is Central Asia’s potential role within this evolving transport ecosystem. While Central Asia may not become the immediate core market of the initiative, it should be viewed as an important part of the broader long-term picture. Countries such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are expected to continue using the Middle Corridor as one of the most natural and strategically efficient routes toward Europe, supported by ongoing infrastructure development and regional coordination.

In this context, Azerbaijan’s role becomes particularly important. Positioned at the intersection of East–West and North–South transport axes, Azerbaijan has increasingly established itself as a strategic logistics and connectivity hub across Eurasia. Through continuous investment in transport infrastructure, multimodal integration, and transit capabilities, Azerbaijan has strengthened the operational capacity of the Middle Corridor and enhanced its attractiveness for international cargo flows.

If the Saudi–Türkiye logistics corridor is successfully implemented, Gulf countries could gain an additional opportunity to receive containerized cargo from China through Türkiye and further connect to the Middle Corridor via Azerbaijan. This could significantly improve delivery speed, reduce dependence on traditional maritime bottlenecks, and enable cargo to reach final destinations more efficiently and with greater operational reliability.

Such integration would not merely create another transport route — it could contribute to the emergence of a new logistics geography linking the Gulf, Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Europe into a more diversified, interconnected, and resilient cargo movement network.

If successfully implemented, the Hejaz Railway could evolve from a historic rail line into one of the region’s most influential logistics and trade infrastructure projects, reshaping connectivity patterns across the Middle East and strengthening Eurasian transport integration for decades to come.

*Ziya Mammadov- Transport & Logistics Consultant , Railway & Port Operations Expert