of the joint working group held in Kars in mid-May regular during the session, the representatives of Turkey and Armenia, according to the report, “in accordance with the agreements on the regulation of Armenian-Turkish relations, emphasized the importance of quickly commissioning the Gyumri-Akhurik-Doghunkapi-Kars railway (146 km).

It is assumed that this line will not only “provide permanent communication between the two countries”, will also become an integral part of the “Trans-Caspian route”, which connects Asia and Europe, bypassing the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the operation of this artery is no less dependent on Russia, because, despite not all recent scandals, the railway infrastructure of Armenia, according to the concession agreement of 2008, is under the management of the company “Russian Railways” (РЖД) for 30 years, represented by its subsidiary “South Caucasian Railway” (SCR).

The two sides are also discussing other joint transport and logistics projects within the framework of the development of the well-known “Trump” corridor, including, for example, the opening of an automobile border checkpoint (it will work first for transit cargo and passenger flows) not far from the Gyumri-Kars railway, which has not been operational since 1993 by Ankara’s decision.

The profile portal of the Russian Federation (on May 12 of this year) notes. “The launch of this line will enable Armenia to be positioned” on key transport corridors, including the Trans-Caspian route, which is used to ship goods between China and Europe, bypassing Russia.

The route passing through Armenia will even shorten the transport distance compared to the transit through the territory of Georgia” (referring to its ports). Regular operation of this highway is expected from 2027.

Armenia has repeatedly expressed (including at the official level) in favor of changing the concessionaire, for example, by early handing over the concession from Russia to Kazakhstan. In the hypothetical implementation of this idea, the actual controller of that pulse will be the USA, within the framework of the recently dimmed idea of ​​the “Trumpian” corridor.․..

Meanwhile, Turkey, Syria and Jordan started in the first ten days of May Hijaz Railway (more than 1300 km long) regeneration process, which is meant to connect the southeastern regions of Turkey with the Arabian Peninsula through the historical Levant (Lebanon and Syria) and Jordan.։

Being one of the largest infrastructure projects of the late Ottoman Empire more than a century ago, in its modern version it aims to connect Turkey to the Gulf countries and Yemen through the Arab region.

The project was given a new impetus on April 7 with the signing of an intergovernmental tripartite memorandum on cooperation in the transport sector in Amman.

The central point of the document is the creation of an integrated railway corridor, based on the idea of ​​the restoration of the historical trans-regional Hijaz highway and its development. Two weeks after that The Minister of Transport of Saudi Arabia, Salih al-Jasser, said that the technical studies of the railway route, “which should connect Saudi Arabia with Turkey through the territory of Jordan and Syria, is planned to be completed at the end of this year.” At that time, Riyadh joined the said memorandum.

Turkish experts according to՝ “the project, which was conceived more than a century ago by Sultan Abdul Hamid II as a route to the holy cities of Islam, is making a comeback today as a new land trade corridor between Europe and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.”

In the future, this rail route is planned to be extended through Saudi Arabia to Oman (one option is through South Yemen), thus “ringing” the land corridor from Anatolia to the Red Sea basin and the Arab ports of the Persian Gulf (taking into account the existing rail connection of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with Kuwait, UAE and Qatar).

The modern Hejaz line, the Turkish Ministry of Transport notes, is designed for trains running at a speed of 150-200 km per hour, and can be used not only for freight traffic, but also for passenger transportation, including religious and cultural tourism.

In a broader context, according to Istanbul University associate professor Ali Ozgur Karagül, the growth of foreign trade volumes of the Persian Gulf countries in recent years, combined with Turkey’s geopolitical and economic position in the region, has pushed the transport corridor between Europe and the Gulf states to the fore, because there can no longer be a “single global trade route” in the global system. Accordingly, local transport corridors and trade routes are brought to the fore.”

In the same applied context, “everything from railway infrastructure to electrification, signaling and rolling stock must be revised to meet the needs of the newly created line. And Turkey should make significant efforts to revive the line passing through its and its surrounding territories.  This artery, for now without extensions to Yemen and Oman, according to preliminary planning, will be put into operation no later than 2029.

Alexey Baliev

vpoanalytics.com

Translation by Zhanna Avetisyan

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