Türkiye restores 350km railway along Syrian border for Development Road link

Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced the reopening of a 350‑kilometre railway corridor along the Syrian border to freight traffic, following the first major overhaul of the route in over a decade. The corridor includes the 325‑kilometre Karkamış‑Nusaybin line and the 25‑kilometre Şenyurt‑Mardin line, which resumed operations on 31 March. Routine maintenance and repairs had been suspended from 2011 to 2024, turning the project into a complete reconstruction.

Modernisation for Heavy Freight

Engineers rebuilt track and station foundations, installed new drainage systems to prevent flood damage, and reinforced 750 metres of unstable ground. More than 2,500 girders were replaced across various bridges and culverts, and critical structural upgrades were made to the Karkamış Bridge. Uraloğlu said the project is not merely a restoration but an essential modernisation effort to secure Türkiye’s economic future.

Link to the Development Road

The restored border tracks will serve as a link in the Development Road project, a planned transit corridor connecting the Persian Gulf to European markets via overland routes through Iraq and Türkiye. The renewed Karkamış‑Nusaybin and Şenyurt‑Mardin lines are slated to directly support the planned Ovaköy‑Nusaybin railway. The reopening comes as the Middle East remains engulfed in conflict, making secure overland trade corridors increasingly vital for global supply chains.