Lebanon is seeking Turkish support to connect its ports to a planned railway linking Turkey with Saudi Arabia through Syria and Jordan, following a meeting in Beirut on Monday between Lebanese Public Works and Transport Minister Fayez Rasamny and Turkish Ambassador Murat Lütem, according to Al-Monitor.
“We are counting on Ankara to help us move in this direction,” Rasamny told Anadolu in early September. He said Lebanon wanted to connect its ports to rail networks reaching Turkey, Iraq and the Gulf states.
On the Lebanese side, the project would start at the Port of Tripoli in the north of the country and run to Syria, where it would connect with the Syrian rail network. Lebanon, which currently has no operational passenger or freight railway, has already begun studies to rehabilitate the first section.
From Tripoli to Homs
The proposed route would run from the Port of Tripoli to Abboudiyeh, on the Syrian border, before connecting with Al-Akkari station in Syria and continuing towards Homs and the rest of the Syrian network.
A Syrian technical delegation visited Lebanon in mid-September to inspect the route with Lebanese officials. According to Syria’s official SANA news agency, the Lebanese section would stretch for around 35 kilometres, passing near the Tripoli Special Economic Zone and Qleyaat airport.
The two countries still need to assess the project’s cost, financing and economic feasibility before construction can begin. Lebanon’s Transport Ministry is meanwhile updating studies for the Tripoli-Abboudiyeh section.
Rasamny travelled to Damascus on 25 August for talks with his Syrian counterpart Ya’rub Badr on restoring the rail connection between the two countries. Beirut and Damascus subsequently formed a joint technical team to examine the old infrastructure.
A route towards Turkey and Saudi Arabia
Beirut does not want the project to stop at the Syrian border.
“Economic viability can be achieved when the ports of Lebanon and Syria are connected to networks reaching the Gulf, Iraq and Turkey,” Rasamny told Anadolu. He said Turkey would play an important role because of its rail links with Europe and its proximity to Syria.
The wider project described by Al-Monitor would connect Turkey and Saudi Arabia through Syria and Jordan. Parts of the route would revive sections of the former Hejaz Railway, built during the Ottoman era to link Damascus with Medina.
The entire corridor has not yet been built or financed as a single project. Several sections across the four countries would need to be rehabilitated or reconnected.
Lebanon’s railways have been dormant for decades
Lebanon once had railway lines linking Beirut and Tripoli with Syria, but the network gradually ceased operating during and after the civil war.
In May, the government revived plans for the Tripoli-Abboudiyeh line, launching a process to update the studies and tender documents for the route. Rasamny said at the time that reconnecting with Syria could eventually give Lebanon access to rail projects being developed in Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
If the project moves forward, the Port of Tripoli could regain a rail connection to Syria and, from there, reach a wider network running north towards Turkey and south towards Jordan and Saudi Arabia.