The Government: The Aqaba-Shudaydah-Ma'an Railway is an important national project with economic and developmental impact in the south
Amman3 min read
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Prime Minister Dr. Jafar Hassan said in a post on social media: We launched yesterday the implementation phase of an important strategic project for Jordan and the region, the Aqaba – Shudaydah – Ma'an railway project, with the support and guidance of His Majesty King Abdullah II and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates. Dr. Hassan added: "A major national project that will have an important economic and developmental impact in the south, and will enhance Aqaba's status as a gateway for trade and logistics services, and will give Ma'an a pivotal role in storage and distribution, and will enable Aqaba to connect with Syria, Turkey and the Mediterranean in the future."
Hassan attached a video to his post that includes an explanation of the project, which marks the laying of its cornerstone, under royal patronage and in the presence of a high-level Emirati delegation, as a practical step to move the Jordanian national railway network project from the planning phase to implementation, within the framework of the Economic Modernization Vision projects.
The Aqaba-Shudaydah-Ma'an railway project is among the major projects being implemented by the government within the framework of the Economic Modernization Vision, and within the executive approach of this phase, where the laying of the project's cornerstone marks the transition to the actual implementation phase, from vision to reality.
The project is based on an investment estimated at nearly $2.5 billion, and will be the first step in building the Jordanian national railway network project within an integrated system that links railways, ports, handling centers and logistics services.
The project extends over two routes connecting the industrial port in Aqaba with phosphate production sites in Shudaydah and potash in the Ghor Al Safi, in addition to the Shudaydah-Ma'an link.
The total length of the planned network is 403 kilometers, of which 360 kilometers are for the phosphate and potash routes, and 43 kilometers for the Ma'an link.
The project aims to transport about 16 million tons of phosphate and potash annually, and Ma'an will be the center for receiving, assembling, storing, handling and redistributing goods, especially after the completion of the Aqaba-Ma'an land port.
Within this integration, the railway will handle heavy transport, and trucks will reach local and international markets, with Ma'an's future role in distributing to 8 regional markets, and the project is expected to reduce the cost of transporting phosphate and potash by about $40 million annually, and provide about 5,000 job opportunities in southern Jordan.
