Damascus, May 24 (SANA) Syria is seeking to restore its role as a regional transit corridor linking Europe and the Gulf through plans to revive cross-border trucking and rehabilitate railway connections with neighboring countries, Transport Minister Yarub Badr said.
In an interview with SANA, Badr said Syria’s geographic position had historically made it a key trade and transport route connecting Asia, Europe and the Gulf before the sector deteriorated after 2011 because of infrastructure damage and disrupted regional connectivity.
He said the overland corridor between the Turkish and Jordanian borders handled between 100,000 and 115,000 trucks annually in both directions before 2011. Freight rail services also operated between Tartous port and Iraq’s Umm Qasr port via Baghdad in 2009, he added.
Badr said truck transit with neighboring countries could resume quickly once ongoing agreements are finalized. He said Syria is coordinating with Türkiye, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to simplify customs and border-crossing procedures and facilitate freight movement.
Some measures are already being implemented under a memorandum of understanding signed by Syria, Türkiye and Jordan, with officials expecting tangible progress before the end of 2026, according to Badr.
He said railway rehabilitation would require more time because of extensive infrastructure damage and the suspension of cross-border rail links over the past decade.
Rail connections with Türkiye through Midan Ikbis and al-Raai require rehabilitation, while the historic Hejaz railway linking Syria and Jordan has remained out of service since 2011, he said.
Badr said Syria has agreements with Türkiye and Jordan to rehabilitate damaged railway sections, adding that the Hejaz railway could resume operations before the end of 2026 if pledged support is secured.
The minister also outlined plans for a modern railway connecting Damascus with the Jordanian border and extending toward Saudi Arabia.
He said Syria is working with the World Bank to secure grants ranging between $65 million and $200 million to support railway rehabilitation and restore Syria’s role as a regional transit route linking Türkiye, Syria, Jordan and Iraq.
Badr also pointed to a memorandum of understanding between the Syrian Railways Establishment and Lattakia International Container Terminal Company aimed at improving container transport between the Syrian coast and inland dry ports in Adra, Homs and Aleppo.
M.Q.R
