Transport in Jordan

Inside Queen Alia International Airport

The Abdoun Bridge connecting east and west Amman

The Highway 65 (Dead Sea Highway) passing by the Dead Sea.

A Phosphate train passing near the Desert Highway

The port of Aqaba

With the exception of a railway system, Jordan has a developed public and private transportation system. There are three international airports in Jordan. The Hedjaz Jordan Railway runs one passenger train a day each way.

Roadways

In 2009, it was estimated that Jordan had 7,891 kilometres (4,903 mi) of paved highways. Some of the major highways in Jordan are:

• Highway 15 (Desert Highway): connects the Syrian border with Amman and to the port city of Aqaba on the Gulf of Aqaba. It is a four-lane, double carriageway road almost on its entirety, from the Syrian border until the junction with the road to Petra.
• Highway 35 (King's Highway): connects Irbid in the northern region to Aqaba, it takes the name and route of the historic King's Highway. It has four lanes on double carriageway on its stretch from Irbid until Amman.
• Highway 65 (Dead Sea Highway): connects Aqaba to the northwestern region of Jordan.
  • The first part of the highway (Safi-Aqaba) was constructed in 1978 as part of the Red Sea - Dead Sea Access. It connected Safi, the south end of Dead Sea to Aqaba, the north point of Red Sea.
• Jordan Highway: encircles the city of Amman and connects it to Jerash and Irbid

Railways

Total: 507 km - narrow gauge of 1,050 mm (3 ft 5 ¹¹⁄₃₂ in) (2008) Railway companies in Jordan are:

• Hedjaz Jordan Railway: The only passenger railway currently operating in Jordan, connecting Amman to Damascus, in Syria, and passing through Zarqa and Mafraq. It is narrow gauge; the rest of the Syrian network uses 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge.
• Aqaba Railway Corporation

Plans

The Jordanian government has begun acquiring land for new rail routes. Following a study by BNP Paribas, three routes are planned, which are expected to be tendered later in 2010. The three routes are:^[1]

1. From the Syrian border, via Zarqa, to the Saudi border; replacing part of the Hedjaz Railway;
2. Connecting the first line to Aqaba, and from Mafraq to Irbid, replacing another part of the Hedjaz Railway;
3. A link to the Iraqi border.

However, in late 2010 the government announced an economic relief package and following the 2011 Jordanian protests it was decided to reduce the expected three year capital investment plan in the national railway network by 72 percent, partly to fund the relief package.^[2] Therefore, it is unclear when the ambitions railway expansion plan will be carried out.

There are also plans for a light rail system operating between Amman and Zarqa and a funicular and metro line in Amman.

Currently, two connected but non-contiguously operated sections of the Hedjaz Railway exist:

• from Amman in Jordan to Syria, as the "Hedjaz Jordan Railway."
• from phosphate mines near Ma'an to the Gulf of Aqaba as the "Aqaba Railway."

In August 2011, Jordanian government approved the construction of the railway from Aqaba to the Iraqi border (near Trebil). The Iraqis in the meantime started the construction of the line from the border to their current railhead at Ramadi.^[3]

Timeline

• 2008- Proposals for international links.^[4]
• 2007- China to rebuild Hejaz line
• 2006- Various rail proposals.^[5]

• The Israeli business newspaper Globes reported that in a meeting between the Israeli minister of transport, Shaul Mofaz and the Jordanian ambassador in Tel Aviv in November, the transport minister announced that European nations are interested in financing the construction of a Haifa-Irbid-Amman railway.

• 2005- 2005 in rail transport

• - Jordanian Transport Minister Saoud Nseirat responds to comments made on Monday, December 12, by Israeli Transport Minister Meir Shitrit. Shitrit had announced his intentions to propose a new standard gauge railway to connect Haifa, Israel, to Irbid, Jordan, passing through King Hussein Bridge and Jenin, a project that could cost as much as $300 million (for the Jordanian portion of the line). Nseirat responded to Shitrit's comments with a denial, stating that there have not been any discussions between the two nations on such a project and no plans for such a connection have been proposed by anyone in the Jordanian government. Shitrit plans to make his formal proposal at a conference for Mediterranean transport ministers in Marrakesh on December 20.^[6]

• • - The Public Transport Regulatory Commission has entered into an agreement with a private sector consortium, following a competitive bidding process, to develop a light rail system between the Jordanian capital Amman and nearby industrial city of Zarqa. This light rail project, to be operational by 2011, will be the first urban rail public-private partnership (PPP) in the Middle East. The system will be operated using 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) (standard gauge) electrically propelled light rail vehicles on a double track. The total length of the LRS system will be approximately 25 kilometres. The majority of the LRS route, between Al-Mahatta (in Amman) and New Zarqa will be constructed within the existing Hedjaz Railway right-of-way (22.2 kilometres). The Public Transport Regulatory Commission estimates that the new system will carry about 45,000 passengers a day in its first year. Canada's CPCS was the lead advisor to the PTRC in this PPP transaction.
  • CPCS is also advising the Government of Jordan in the privatization of the Aqaba Railway Corporation, running from Ma'an to Aqaba. This railway is used to transport phosphate from mines located in Ma'an. The commission plans to modernize the old 1,050 mm (3 ft 5 ¹¹⁄₃₂ in) narrow gauge railway and replace it with new track.

Pipelines

gas 473 km; oil 49 km

Ports and harbors

The port of Aqaba on the Gulf of Aqaba is the only sea port in Jordan.

Merchant marine

total: 7 ships (with a volume of 1,000 gross register tons (GRT) or over) totaling 42,746 GRT/59,100 tonnes deadweight (DWT)
ships by type (1999): bulk carrier 2, cargo ship 2, container ship 1, livestock carrier 1, roll-on/roll-off ship 1 The governments of Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq own and operate the Arab Bridge Maritime company, which is the largest passenger transport company on the Red Sea.

Airports

18 as of 2012

Airports - with paved runways

As of 2012, there was a total of 16 airports, the main airports being:

• Queen Alia International Airport in Amman.
• King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba
• Amman Civil Airport in Amman
• Muwaffaq Salti Air Base: A military airport in Azraq

total (2012): 16
over 10,000 ft (3,048 m): 8
8000 ft to 9,999 ft (2,438 to 3,047 m): 5
under 3,000 ft (914 m): 1

Airports - with unpaved runways

total (2012): 2 under 3000 ft (914 m): 2

Heliports (2016)

56

Maps

• UNHCR Atlas Map - most stations unnamed

See also

• Jordan
• Arab Mashreq International Railway
• Red Sea–Dead Sea Access

References

1. "Railway Gazette: Ambitious strategy ready to start". Retrieved 2010-09-10.
2. Obeidat, Omar (14 March 2011). "Budget deficit prompts cuts in three-year development plan". The Jordan Times. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
3. Construction begins on 500km Jordan-Iraq railway, Construction Week, Aug 24, 2011
4. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/30/content_10434617.htm
6. ArabicNews.com (December 14, 2005), "Jordan denies reports on a railway project with Israel". Retrieved December 15, 2005.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook website https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html.

External links

• Hejaz RR Map