· 8 min read
Railway projects in Jordan: the Aqaba freight line, Amman to Aqaba high-speed rail and the PPPs behind them
The freight railway to Aqaba, the planned high-speed line, light rail and the Saudi link, and how a company in Jordan can build, run or propose rail projects as PPPs.
Railway projects in Jordan include the $2.5 billion freight railway now under way between the southern mines and the port of Aqaba, a planned $3.2 billion high-speed line from Amman to Aqaba, the Amman-Zarqa light rail and a rail link with Saudi Arabia. Private partners can build, finance, equip and run each of them under PPP contracts, and any company can propose its own siding, yard or depot under Article 15 of PPP Law No. 19 of 2023. This post sets out the projects, the contracts and the first steps, drawing on the sector guides and the 96 free organization guides on this site.
What railway projects are planned in Jordan?
Jordan’s railway pipeline has four main lines: the $2.5 billion freight railway linking the port of Aqaba with the phosphate and potash mines, the Amman to Aqaba high-speed rail, the 60 km Amman-Zarqa light rail and a rail link with Saudi Arabia. Each appears in the Jordan PPP project register on this site.
- 01Aqaba freight railway. Under way. A $2.5 billion line built to carry about 16 million tonnes of phosphate and potash a year from the mines to the port, with ground broken on October 5, 2026.
- 02Amman to Aqaba high-speed rail. Pipeline. A passenger railway through the southern governorates, aiming for journeys under three hours, with a build-operate-transfer model under consideration.
- 03Amman-Zarqa light rail. Pipeline. A 60 km line that would rehabilitate the old Hejaz Railway between Amman and Zarqa and extend it to Queen Alia International Airport, with its economic feasibility study completed in 2026.
- 04Saudi-Jordan railway link. Pipeline. A line from the Saudi border into Jordan, which the transport sector guide expects in service by 2035.
- 05Aqaba-Ma’an dry port. Pipeline. A dry port in Ma’an linked to the new railway by a branch of about 43 km, with a phased target of up to one million TEU.
The transport sector guide lists the passenger lines beside every other road, transit and border project, and the ports and logistics sector guide covers the freight railway with the terminals and dry ports it serves. Read together, they show a country moving from separate projects towards one connected network.
What is the Aqaba freight railway?
The Aqaba freight railway is a $2.5 billion line now under way in Jordan, built to carry about 16 million tonnes of phosphate and potash a year from the southern mines to the port of Aqaba. The project is a 50:50 Jordanian and Emirati venture, and ground was broken on October 5, 2026.
$2.5B
freight railway under way between the mines and the port of Aqaba, the largest rail project in Jordan’s history
The new line builds on a long history. Jordan began building its freight railway to Aqaba in 1972 to carry phosphate from the southern mines, and the line reached a total length of 292 kilometers after a branch to the Wadi Al Abyad mines opened in 1982. Financial close on the new railway is expected in early 2027, ownership passes to the government after the agreement term, and the Minister of Transport has described it as the base for a future national rail network.
Phosphate, potash, silica and green ammonia leave through Aqaba, so the railway links Jordan’s minerals to the industries that buy them. The mining guidePDF describes rail freight, bulk terminals and storage in Aqaba developed or anchored as PPPs, with the company’s volumes committed for the life of each concession. The Ma’an guidePDF covers the governorate where the dry port and its rail branch are planned.
Will there be a high-speed train from Amman to Aqaba?
A high-speed railway from Amman to Aqaba is in Jordan’s pipeline at about $3.2 billion. The planned passenger line runs through the southern governorates, aims for journeys under three hours between the capital and the Red Sea, and is being considered as a build-operate-transfer project.
$3.2B
planned high-speed railway from Amman to Aqaba, a passenger line that would tie tourism, industry and the port into one corridor
The line matters to Aqaba because the city anchors $46 billion of Jordan’s $86 billion of PPP and infrastructure projects, and every tonne and every visitor that reaches the port and the special economic zone has to travel there. The transport sector guide sets out the horizon: bus rapid transit at full scale and the first light rail line under construction by 2030, rail linking Amman, Zarqa and Queen Alia International Airport by 2035 with a line to Saudi Arabia in service, and high-speed rail joining Amman and Aqaba by 2050.
How can a company join a railway PPP in Jordan?
A company can join a railway PPP in Jordan through five kinds of contract: track and signaling paid through availability payments, rolling stock financed and leased for its working life, freight haulage to Aqaba paid per tonne, passenger services paid through fares or availability payments, and the depots, yards and loading terminals that keep trains moving.
The rail companies guidePDF explains how each one works. New lines, sidings and signaling can be delivered as design, build, finance and maintain contracts, in which the company earns availability payments for keeping each section open at its rated speed and axle load. Locomotives, wagons, passenger trains and their depots can be financed as one package and leased to the operator, paid per train available each day. Mines, industrial zones and dry ports need trains that load at the site and unload at Aqaba, and a company can run those services under haulage contracts paid per tonne carried.
Jordan has a new railway to its port under way, plans for a national network and a law that lets a company propose its own projects.
Consortiums take shape early. A PPP rail team that follows every freight, passenger and port rail project from the first market sounding can join consortiums while sponsors are still choosing their builder and operator. The operators and services category gathers the guides for the rail, logistics and bus companies that run these assets, and the logistics and port companies guidePDF covers the terminals and dry ports the trains will serve.
Can a company propose its own rail project in Jordan?
Yes. Article 15 of Jordan’s PPP Law No. 19 of 2023, in effect since November 13, 2023, lets any private company take its own PPP idea to the Ministry of Investment or a public authority. A rail company can propose a siding, a wagon workshop or a container loading yard and keep the right to match the best offer at tender.
The guides give rail examples close to Aqaba’s trade. A logistics company could propose a rail-to-truck transfer terminal in Ma’an, and a mining company could propose a rail siding or a bulk storage yard in Aqaba. If another bidder wins the tender, that bidder pays the proposer’s direct study costs. The unsolicited proposals page sets out the route for each kind of organization.
Smaller projects can move faster. PPP Regulation No. 9 of 2024 defines small-scale PPPs below $14.1 million, which can be bundled into one feasibility report and one tender, so similar sidings or loading yards can go to market as a single project. A transport research lab could run $100,000 pilots, such as drone inspection of every bridge on one highway, and carry the results into the large concessions. The small PPPs page explains the method.
How will AI, robotics and tokenization change Jordan’s railways?
AI, robotics and tokenization will change how Jordan’s railways are planned, maintained and owned. AI can schedule mineral trains against ship departures in Aqaba, robots can inspect and maintain track overnight, and tokenized stakes can let investors own part of the rolling stock and depots and receive lease and haulage payments as they arrive.
In service, AI reads sensors on track and trains to predict wear in wheels, rails and switches before a fault stops traffic, so a line keeps its availability and the payments that depend on it. Drones and track recording vehicles survey rails, bridges and embankments, wayside sensors check every passing wheel and brake, and automated machines tamp ballast and grind rail overnight. A small maintenance team can then keep a long desert line open around the clock.
A railway earns from every tonne and passenger it carries for decades, which suits tokenized ownership. Tradable rights to train slots on the freight railway would let shippers book and resell capacity in advance. The $500 trillion opportunity sets out how tokenized PPPs could grow, and the Vision page explains how AI, robotics and tokenization will change the assets these contracts cover.
Where should a rail company in Jordan start?
A rail company in Jordan can start with six first steps: board approval for a PPP rail program, a named program lead, a map of Jordan’s $86 billion of projects, the track and rolling stock capabilities it will bring, partners to complete each consortium and a first siding, workshop or loading yard as a pilot.
The pipeline map starts in Aqaba, where $46 billion of projects are anchored and where the freight railway, the high-speed line and the dry port branch all lead to the port. Early meetings with the contracting authorities and shippers behind each rail line and port link let a company shape its offer before tenders open. The starting guide explains PPPs from zero, and the summary of all 96 guides brings the method together in one document.
