Authorities planning ‘Ottoman style’ Aqaba-Wadi Rum train

AMMAN — Work is under way on a train project connecting Aqaba and Wadi Rum, said Khalil Farrayeh, spokesperson for the state-run Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC), on Sunday.

Once in place, the project, currently in the study and design stage, will seek to enrich the experience of local visitors and tourists, Farrayeh told The Jordan Times.

There have been two previous official attempts to revive the existing 65-kilometer-long railway linking Aqaba and Wadi Rum, around 330km south of Amman, but they failed due to lack of funds.

However, due to the importance of the project, the ADC floated a tender around two months ago for the implementation of the project, which will have an old Ottoman theme, according to Farrayeh.

The project is expected to include a comprehensive station in Aqaba within a shopping centre built on a 40-dunum plot, in addition to another “simple” station in Wadi Rum which will match the simplicity of the area, he said.

While Aqaba received 532,000 tourists in the first 10 months of 2016, Wadi Rum received 105,000 visitors last year, according to official figures.

The ADC was launched in 2004 by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority and the government.

It owns Aqaba’s seaport, airport and strategic parcels of land, as well as the development and management rights for these assets, in addition to key infrastructure and utilities, according to its website.