Iraq-Turkey Railway to Link Persian Gulf to European Markets

2026-04-17

Turkey has reopened a strategic 350-kilometer (217-mile) rail corridor along the Syrian border to freight traffic, Anadolu reported.

After the first comprehensive rehabilitation in more than a decade, train traffic on the route resumed on March 31.

The Karkamish-Nusaybin and Sengurt-Mardin lines will directly support the planned Ovakoy-Nusaybin railway, a future transit corridor that will connect the Persian Gulf to European markets via Iraq and Turkey, via land routes.

In addition, Turkey, Syria and Jordan have agreed to restore the historic Hejaz Railway. Originally built between 1900 and 1908, the Hejaz Railway stretched for about 1,750 kilometers and connected Istanbul with Mecca and Medina, as well as Damascus and parts of Yemen.

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