The Hejaz Railway

Rail operations


At every railroad various activities were evolved from railroad construction into the normal railroad operation: the management of real estate and personnel, maintenance of the railway line and buildings as well as maintenance of the rolling stock.

 In addition to the Hejaz railway, due to the political situation, the management of the military railway operations was established as an extension of the construction operation.

The management and operating personnel was recruited from the Ottoman-trained forces in the lower levels of responsibility.  Local staff was also recruited from the respective regions, when available.

The administration for maintenance and installations was carried out centrally from Damascus. The traffic management was controlled by Dera'a installations and the cargo was managed from the port of Haifa.

Operation between Damascus and Medina started with 3 regular passenger trains per week in each direction. The trip lasted 3 days.

 This seems to be a long time, but note that a caravan of camels loaded for the travelers took a period of 2 months for the same route.

 The trains from Damascus to Haifa drove daily for about 12 to 15 hours. During the pilgrimage season of the Muslim holidays, special trains were provided for pilgrims, apart from the military transportation which was carried out on special trains.

Regarding the rolling stock, Auler Pasha in his travel report listed on the 1st September 1907, noted the following:

 

19	Cargo locomotives	4	Tender 18 cbm water
		7	Tender 15 cbm water
		8	Tender 12 cbm water
16	Cargo tender-locomotives
6	Shunt tender-locomotives
14	Passenger locomotives		Tender 15 cbm water
55	Total
32	Carriages	21	3rd class
		6	1st class
		2	Saloon carriages
		1	Sleeping carriage
		1	Office carriage
		1	Mosque carriage
32	Total
552	Goods trucks	390	Platform wagon
		75	Closed van
		79	Highsided wagon
		6	Livestock van
		2	Cisterne wagon
552	Gesamt
Ordered:
12	Cargo locomotives	12	Tender 18 cbm water
4	Cargo tender-locomotives
16	Total
16	Carriages	9	3rd class
		6	1st class
		1	Sleeping carriage
16	Total
140	Goods trucks	45	Platform wagon
		40	Closed van
		40	Highsided wagon
		15	Luggage van
140	Total