“Wildly improbable and a rare feet of technology” were words describing the mammoth task of constructing a 1000 mile railway across pitiless, wadi-fissured deserts, a barren wilderness strewn with unforgiving mountains and hard volcanic rock from the holgy Medinah to Istanbul via Syria. Yet this monumental engineering feat of laying down the tracks on the desert is what was achieved in the declining years of the Ottoman Empire.
In fact, the Hejaz Railway was built to extend the line from the Haydarpaşa Terminal in Istanbul beyond Damascus to the holy city of Makkah. But, it got no further than Medina due to the interruption of the construction works caused by the outbreak of World War I. But, even connecting Damascus to Medina, which is about 1,300 kilometers was not less than a wonder more than 100 years back.
The Hejaz Railway had the original purpose of connecting Istanbul and Hejaz many years ago. But the construction work started a bit late because of resource constraints. The project was funded by some institutional and individual donors also. The construction of this oldest desert railroad was financed exclusively by Islamic sources. The project at that time was nicknamed as the “pilgrim railway,” as it was meant to facilitate the transport of pilgrims from different parts of the region. The work started in 1900 AD and the railway started working on 1st September 1908 AD. It was continuation of the railway line from Istanbul to Damascus and had several stations on its track. The main six stations were Damascus, Amman, Ma’an (Jordan), Tabuk, Madain Saleh and the final stop the holy city of Medinah. 
Before Hejaz railway pilgrims used to come for performing Hajj by camel caravans, which used to take two months to three months for a one side journey. Its cost was 40 Pounds. The Hejaz railway reduced the duration to four days and it was much cheaper at 3.5 pounds only. But, the camel caravan owners did not like railway to flourish as it was incurring them great financial losses and hence they quietly often damaged the railway track at that time.  In term of passenger loads, the Hejaz Railway was a huge success. The number of passengers travelling through Hejaz Railway annually rose from 30,000 in the start to 300,000 in 1914 AD. But, the real damage to Hejaz Railway came from the guriella attacks headed by T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) during the four years of world war I from 1914-1918 AD. After the break up of Ottoman empire, Hejaz railway could never start again beyond Jordan. 
Attempts were made to revive the railway line in 1960’s but the war of 1967 ended any such hope. Meanwhile, the advent of automobiles and air transportation especially in the Middle East region including Saudi Arabia decreased the necessity of Hejaz railway. 
Today, the remains of Hejaz Railway are feast for the eyes. Near the old Hejaz Railway station in Medinah, one can see the tracks, the old engines as well as the historic area around it. If you visit Medina, then don’t forget to see the Saqaya Mosque inside the station premises, which belongs to the era of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). You can also see other sites in the vicinity of Hejaz Railway station in Medinah. 
So far as the resources to build such a massive railway project at that time is concerned, one must know that it was mainly funded by donors and institutions as well as some Muslim countries. In all, about £1,000,000 was raised in cash or kind by voluntary subscriptions throughout the Muslim world at that time. The Hejaz railway was rather remarkable both for having had no debt when completed and for having many miles of track below sea level.
Before the construction, German military adviser in Istanbul Auler Pasha estimated that the transportation of soldiers from Istanbul to Mecca would be reduced to 120 hours. The Berlin to Baghdad Railway was built in the same time. The railways were interrelated and aimed to strengthen the relations.
Another intention behind building the Hejaz Railway was to protect Hejaz and other Arab provinces from foreign invasion. The railway reached Medina on September 1, 1908, and in 1913 the Hejaz Railway Station was opened in central Damascus as the starting point of the line. The Hejaz railway helped those who used to make the pilgrimage every year easier. Another important reason for building the railway was to promote the economy and help in military transportation of both Istanbul and Hejaz. Unfortunately it was severely damaged during World War I. But now, it is one popular tourist spot in Saudi Arabia and in other countries including Syria because it is being rebuilt and kept as original as possible. The workers even use original steam locomotives. The appeal of the Hejaz Railway is the history that it carries. It has survived for many years and has survived the passage of time enduring the wars and conquests of many empires. It is an antiquity preserved by the Muslims.
“What was noteworthy about the Hejaz Railway today are its minor non-operating sections of the railway track, buildings and rolling-stock preserved just for sightseeing,” said a report published recently. These include the Medina Terminus also. The railway also carries religious significance. It is surrounded by holy places that have influenced the people’s faith and culture.
Hence, it is important for any history student to know that railway as means of travel and transportation is not new to Saudi Arabia. The country, which emerged as a prosperous modern nation within a few decades after the discovery of oil, has had the distinction to be part of a massive railway network about 100 years back.
But, now again after 100 years, the Kingdom can boast to have the best railway system in the world. A raft of multi-billion-dollar metro contracts this year is turning Saudi Arabia in particular and the Middle East in general into a railway projects hotbed. Until recently the Arabian Peninsula had long been a backwater for rail development. Despite hosting the now-defunct Hejaz railway made famous by the exploits of Lawrence of Arabia, until 2009 the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (the GCC) – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia – between them had only operational railway, a single-track link between Riyadh and the oil hub of Dammam. In the first seven months of this year, more than $30bn-worth of metro projects have been awarded.
The largest single project, worth more than $20bn, is the first six lines of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh metro scheme, awarded in late July this year to three Spanish, US and Italian-led consortiums. Work on the design-and-build contracts, which also include the supply of rolling stock and signaling systems, is expected to start early 2014. On the regional level, the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is set to form a new railway authority as it tries to coordinate the ambitious roll-out of the 2,200km integrated regional railway project. According to GCC report, most member states had completed detailed engineering design on the project with a few expected to finish it by the end of this year or early next year.
 The member states had also agreed on certain common guidelines and minimum requirements for the $200bn project with the GCC developing a regional master plan schedule that would apply across the board. But, the project, which will start in Kuwait City and connect all Gulf states to end in Muscat, was also “facing a lot of challenges”. Let us wait for the day, when you will board a train in Riyadh to take a whirlwind tour of all Gulf states in a day or two.

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