Al-Ula
The railway station at al-Hijr, ancient Hegra, was one of the main stops on the Hejaz Railway, which the Ottomans built from Damascus to Madinah and which…
The railway station at al-Hijr, ancient Hegra, was one of the main stops on the Hejaz Railway, which the Ottomans built from Damascus to Madinah and which reached this area in 1907. The station complex has sixteen buildings spread over about 400 metres, including offices, stores, a police post, a hospital, workers' houses and a large engine shed for maintaining the locomotives. Most of the buildings were restored in the 1980s and again in recent years. Part of the complex now houses a hotel and a restaurant, with an old steam locomotive on display in the engine shed, and visits are usually arranged with tours of Hegra. The Ottoman pilgrim fort of al-Hijr stands nearby.