Musalam inside the Turkish fort - Saudi Arabia
The Hejaz Railway was built to link Damacus, which was the terminus of the main railway across Turkey from Istanbul, to Mecca. The idea was to have a direct rail link from the Ottoman Empire to the holy city. Since Istanbul was linked to the heart of Europe by the Orient Express the new project was considered to be a direct link from Europe to the heart of the Middle East - Paris to Mecca!
The railway never got to Mecca. Construction reached Medina where the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire brought it to a halt. The halt was mainly caused by the insurrection of the Arab states against Ottoman rule led by T.E. Lawrence, aka “Lawrence of Arabia.” His main tactic for the insurrection was to destroy the railway.
There is a Hejaz Railway Commission that seeks to eventually build the complete route.
