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Maps of the Hejaz Railroad

Note: Regarding Map: Saudi Railway.gif

(Halet Amm’ar to Madina Station) The names of 41 stations / stops are taken directly from the name plates except for a couple of locations where they have been taken from government issued maps. This is because the physical location had no name plate and some (like Bir Nasif) have been removed. The stops that don’t have name plates are: (halet ammar, that al haj, al uthealy, birk, qurayn ghazal, al mustabgha and bughaz). The rest of the name plates were in location, at least at the time of writing this: March 2005. Some of the forts are not related to the railroad but they are located near the railroad. Most of these are older in construction than the railroad (like al swara) The problem with the names originates from the fact that the Ottomans used to write in Arabic but the pronunciation was in Turkish. (i.e. Turkish language written with the Arabic alphabet). The problem with the name: Ralid Raad is that it doesn’t sound meaningful in Arabic nor in Turkish. If a Turkish person reads this, perhaps they could contact me with help with this name. (If you can offer some help, please contact the webmaster of Nabataea.net here.)

M. Nagshabandi (Saudi Arabia)




Principal Stations of the Hejaz Railroad in 1914

Ottoman Stations Names by Osman Levend

I believe the list of stations as published in the Ottoman Year Book of 1910 should be of some help to your readers. Apart from several Ottoman State Year Books (Sâl Nâme) where all rail facilities of the Empire are well documented as to distance as well as to inauguration dates; I benefited enormously from an itinerary reference book entitled “Stations [or ‘Stades’ if you will] on the Most Exalted Pilgrimage” (i.e. Menâsik el Hacc’ es Serîf) published in the Old Turkish Script and in Turkish (obviously !) at Boulaq Works in Cairo during the 1250th year of the Hedgira or 1833 of the Gregorian Calender to be exact. The reason for this interest of mine was based on the fact that the reigning monarch of the day and the most important benefactor of Hejaz Railway, i.e. Sultan Abd el Hamîd the Second; had implicitly ordered his engineers that the tracks should follow the age old Route of the Hajj’ to al Maqqah. This is one of the reasons why the original Terminal of the Line was built at ‘Qadam ash Sharif’ (i.e. the Exalted Step) instead of ‘ad Dimashq ash Sham’ since the former was the initial encampement where pilgrims from the Balkans and Anatolia as well as those from the Eastern Provinces gathered to begin their long and arduous journey. A further note on the inauguration dates of all finished sections of the Line as well as the final ceremony day when the tracks reached al Madinah is that they were always on the 19th day of August in the Julian Calender (i.e. the 1st Day of September in the Gregorian Calender); the said date being the day when the Sultan had ascended to the throne of the Ottomans in 1876.

The “Hejaz” Railway Stations according to the Ottoman State Year Book published in 1910 are as follows:

Turkish orthography of station Name - French transcription found in bi-lingual Postal Guides Present day transcriptions according to the Times Atlas Distance from the previous station - total distance from the initial station in kms Corresponding pages on this website
 Hayfa Iskele Istasyon'u - Haiffa  Hefa Port Station, ysr  0 - 0  Haifa
 Hayfa Istasyon'u - Haiffa  Hefa Station, ysr  5 - 5  Balad al-Shaykh
 Tel es Semâme - Tel Elchamame  Tel Shem, ysr  17 - 22  Tel Esh Shamam
 Afule - Afoula  Afula, ysr  15 - 37  Afula
 Satta - Chata  Bet ha Shitta, ysr  15 - 52  Beit Shitta
 Beysân - [unrecorded in PTT Lists]  Hanot Bet She’an, ysr  8 - 60  Beit She'an
 Cisr el Mecâmî - Djesr al Majami  Gesher Naharayim, ysr  17 - 77  Jisr al-Majami
 Semmah - Samah  Ma’agan, ysr  10 - 87  Samakh
 el Hammâ - el Houma  Hammat Gader, ysr  9 - 96  El Hamma
 Vâdî i Kalid - Wadi Kilid  Wadi Khalid, syr  12 - 108  Esh Shejara
 el Makarin - Makarine  Maqarin, jrn  17 - 125  Maqarin
 Zeyzûn - Zizone  Zaizoune, syr  11 - 136  Zeizoun
 Tel Sihâb - [unrecorded in PTT Lists]  at Tall ash Shabab, syr  11 - 147  Tel Esh Shehab
 Müzeyrib - Muzéyrib / Mezerib  al Muzairib, syr  3 - 150  Mezerib
 Dera’a [Junction to Damascus Line] - Déraa  Der’a, syr  12 - 162  Dera'a
 Nasib - Nassib  Nassib, syr  12 - 174  Nasib
 Mefrak - Mafrak  Mafraq - jrn  26 - 200  Mafraq
 Samrâ - Hurbet ul Samra  Khirbet as Samrah, jrn  24 - 224  Samra
 Zerkâ - Zergha / Zarka  Zarqah, jrn  17 - 241  Zarqa
 Amman - Aman  Mahattat al Amman, Marqah, jrn  20 - 261  Amman
 Kasr - Kasser  Mahattat al Qasr, jrn  12 - 273 Qasr
 Lebben - [unrecorded in PTT Lists]  near al Lubben, jrn  14 - 287  Lebben
 Cîze - Djizé  Mahattat aj Jizah, jrn  11 - 298   Jiza
 Deba’a - Dabaa  Dhab’ah, jrn  19 - 317  Dabaa
 Han ez Zebîb -  Mahattat al Khan az Zabib, jrn   17 - 334  Khan Zebib
 Savaka - Sawaka  unknown, jrn  14 - 348  Sawaka
 Katrâne - Katrana / Katrané  Qatranah, jrn  17 - 365  Qatrana
 Menzîl - Menzel  as Sa’d as Soultani, jrn  21 - 386  
 Fureyfire - Ferifra  Fouraifirah, jrn  20 - 406  Furaifir
 el Hassa - el Hassa  Mahattat al Khassah, jrn  10 - 416  Hassa
 Cerûf ed Derâvis - Djérouf ad Daraviche  Jérouf ad Darawish, jrn  20 - 436  Jerowf-Darwish
 Uneyze - Anaza  Anizah, jrn  25 - 461  Unayza
 Vâdî i Cerdûn - Wadi Djérdoun  Mahattat abou Jirdan, jrn  18 - 479  Wadi Jirdan
 Ma’an Station - Maan  Asfar al Mahattat, jrn  18 - 497  Maan
 Gadîr el Hacc’ - Ghadir ul Hadje  Mousawwal, jrn  17 - 514  Ghadir aI-Hajj
 Bî’r es Seydiyye - [unrecorded in PTT Lists]  Bi’r ash Shidiyyah, jrn  11 - 525 Bir  Shidiya
 Akâbet es Sâmiye - Akabet ul Chamié  Aqabat al Hijaziyah, jrn  28 - 553  Aqabat Hijaz
 Batn el Gûl - Batn al Ghoul  Batn al Ghoul, jrn  5 - 558  Batn al-Ghul
 Vâdî i Retme - Wadi Retmé  Hisn Touwan, jrn  10 - 568  Wadi Retme
 Tel es Sahm - Tel el Chahm  Touloul ash Shahm, jrn  17 - 585  Tel Sahm
 Remle - [unrecorded in PTT Lists]  ar Ramlah, jrn  9 - 594  Ramlah
 Müdevvere - Medouré / Mudevvéré  Qal’at al Mudawwarah, jrn  17 - 611  Mudawwara
 Haret el Ammâre - Harat El Amar  Khalat Ammar, sar  22 - 633 Khalat Ammar
 Zât el Hacc’ - Zat ul Hadje  Dhat al Hajj’, sar  14 - 647  Dhat al Hajj
 Bî’r Hirmas - Biir Hermasse  Bi’r ibn Khirmas, sar  24 - 671  Bir Hermas
 el Hazm - El Hazm  al Hazm, sar  22 - 693  Hazm
 el Muhattâb - al Mahtab  al Mouhtatab, sar  23 - 716  Maktab
 Tebük - Tébuk  Tabuk, sar  14 - 730  Tabuk
 Vâdî i Uteyl - Wadi Atil  al Outhayli, sar  28 - 758  Wadi Atil
 Dâr el Hacc’ - Dar ul Hadje  ad Da’r al Hajj’, sar  24 - 782  Dar Hajj
 unrecorded in the Year Books & PTT Lists  Qourain al Ghazal, sar  ? - ?  Qurayn Ghazal
 Mustabka’a - Mustabkaa  al Moustabqa’a, sar  11 - 793  Al Mustabka
 Ahzar - El Ahter  al Akhdhar, sar  5 - 798 .
 Ahzar Alimantasyon'u - [unrecorded in PTT Lists]  unknown, sar  4 - 802  Ahzar
 Hamîse - Khamissé  Khamisah, sar  18 - 820  Khamis
 Delsa’d - Dilsaïd  al Asad, sar  23 - 843  Al Asad
 el Muazzam - El Mouazzam  Qal’at al Mouazzam, sar  23 - 866  Mua'zzum
 Hasm San’â - Hachm Sana  Khashm Sanah, sar  25 - 891  Khashim Sana'a
 Dâr el Hamrâ - Dar ul Hamra  ad Da’r al Khamrah, sar  27 - 918  Dar al-Hamra
 el Mutalla’a - El Matab  al Moutalla’ah, sar  24 - 942  Al Muttala
 ebu Taka - Abou Taka  Abou Taqah, sar  14 - 956  Abu Taqah
 el Muzahhim - El Mazahem  al Mouzahim, sar  13 - 969  Muzzaham
 Mubârekât et Taka - [unrecorded in PTT Lists]  unknown, sar  11 - 980  Mubaraka Taka
 Medâin i Sâlih - El Hadjer (Médain Salih)  al Khidjr, sar  13 - 993  Mada'in Salih
 [unrecorded in the Year Books & PTT Lists]  Wadi al Houshaish, sar  ? - ?  Wadi al Hashish
 el Ulâ - Elala, El Oula  al Oula, sar  25 - 1018  Al Ula
 el Bedâî - Bedavé  al Bada’i, sar  19 - 1037  Al-Bedai
 Meshed - Mechhed  al Moughairah, sar  14 - 1051  Mashad
 Sahl el Matar - Sehl el Matar  as Sahl al Matran, sar  21 - 1072  Sahal Matran
 Zümrüd - Zemurred / Zumrud  unknown, sar  16 - 1088  Zumrud
 Bîr ec Cedîd - Beïr ul Djédid / Soura  Bi’r aj Jadid / as Sawrah, sar  23 - 1111  Bir Jedid
 Tuveyre - Tavira  Touwairah, sar)  18 - 1129  Tuwayrah
 [unrecorded in the Year Books & PTT Lists]  Wayban, sar  ? - ?  Wayban
 Münderic - Mundaridj  al Mudarraj, sar  25 - 1154  Mudaraj
 Hediyye - Hedyé  Hadiyyah, sar  18 - 1172  Hadyah
 Cida’a - Djidaa  unknown, sar  22 - 1194  Jida'ah
 Ebu en Na’am - Abou El Naam  unknown, sar  17 - 1211  Abu Na'am
 Istabl Antâr - Stabl Antar  Istabl Antar, sar  16 - 1227  Antar
 Buveyre - Bouéra  al Bouwair, sar  20 - 1247  Buwayr
 Bî’âr Na’sif - Biar Naassif (Mililih) / Melélénd  al Mulaylih, sar  20 - 1267  Bir Nasif
 Buvâta - [unrecorded in PTT Lists]  Bouwatah, sar  19 - 1286  Buwat
 Hafîre - Hazra / Hafiré Qal’at al Khafirah,sar   21 - 1307  Hafirah
 Muhayyit - Mouhit  unknown, sar  19 - 1326  Mouhit
 Medîne i Münevvere - Médiné  al Madinah al Munawwarah, sar  15 - 1341  Medina

It should be noted that the original Hejaz Railway starting point was as at Qadem which was to be connected to Damascus only by 1911.

Abbreviations:

  • jrn - Jordan
  • sar - Saudi Arabia
  • syr - Syria
  • ysr - Israel
Turkish orthography of station Name - French transcription found in bi-lingual Postal Guides Present day transcriptions according to the Times Atlas Distance from the previous station - total distance from the initial station in kms Corresponding pages on this website
Dera’a [Junction to al Madinah Line] - Déraa Der’a, syr 162 from Haiffa Dera'a
Gazâle - Hurbet ul Ghazal Khirbet al Ghazal, syr 16 - 178 Ghazale
Izra’ - Ezraa Mahattat Izra’, syr 15 - 193 Izra
Muhacce - Mouhadja al Mouhajjah, syr 14 - 207 Muhaje
Habbâb - [unrecorded in PTT Lists] unknown, syr 8 - 215 Khabab
Cebbâb - Djébab Jabbab, syr 7 - 222 Jebab
Mesmiyye - Mesmié al Mismiyyah, syr 13 - 235 Masmie
Dey Alî - Der Ali Dair Ali, syr 19 - 254 Deir Ali
Kisve - Kisswa Kiswah, syr 10 - 264 Kiswe
Kadem es Serîf - Kadam Chérif Qadem, syr 21 - 285 Cadem


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