Railway ties Amman, Damascus, Tehran
Ausgut 15, 2000, AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Plans to link the capitals of
Jordan and Iran via Syria are underway in a bid to encourage religious
tourism, Hijaz Railway Corp. Director General Abdul Razaq Abul Feilat said
Tuesday.
Rail travel between Amman and Damascus, Syria has been available for
over a year. Abul Feilat told The Associated Press negotiations between
Syrian and Iranian officials are underway to start rail travel between
Tehran, Iran and the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, and from there on
to Damascus and Amman.
He said Jordan planned a media campaign to promote religious sites in
the kingdom considered holy to the Shiite sect of Islam. Most Iranians
are Shiite Muslims.
"Traveling by train would be a real bargain for tourists compared
to air travel costs," said Abul Feilat, whose corporation is state-owned.
The two-day journey from Tehran to Amman will not cost more than dlrs
30, he said. In addition to recently restarted rail travel between Aleppo
and the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which links Amman to Baghdad via
Mosul and other Iraqi cities, a railway linking Aleppo to Istanbul, Turkey
will be activated soon and tie Amman by rail to all major European cities.
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