File 3142/1903 'Hedjaz Railway' [‎145r] (298/488)

ment is fche Property of His Britannic Mejesty’s Government,]
ASIATIC TURKEY.
CONEIDENTIAL.
/
[January J.
Section i.
No. 1.
fc Sir N. O’Conor to the Marquess of Lansdowne.—(Received January 4, 1904.)
Y
(No. 851.)
My Lord, Constantinople, December 29, 1903.
WITH reference to my despatch No. 670 of the 16th October last, I have the
honour to transmit herewith copy of a despatch from His Majesty’s Consul at
Damascus, reporting on the progress in the construction of the Hejaz Railway.
Your Lordship will observe that, according to Mr. Richards’ information, the
project of a branch from Maan to Akaba has now been shelved, if not definitely
abandoned, although it was at one time really entertained and an engineer had been
deputed to survey the line of country between those two places.
Mr. Richards calls attention to the statement in certain Turkish papers that Indian
Moslems generally have already contributed 5,000,000 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. to the Hejaz Railway
fund, and that the Moslems of Hyderabad have offered to contribute a sum of about
the same amount on condition that three-fifths of this sum shall be spent on the
construction of a branch line between Jedda and Mount Arafat (near Mecca).
In my despatch No. 654 of the 9th October last, I had the honour to transmit
a newspaper extract reporting an offer by the Nyzam of Hyderabad of 5,000,000 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
contributed by his Moslem subjects.
I have, &c.
(Signed) N. It. O’CONOR.
Inclosure in No. L
Consul Richards to Sir N. O’Conor.
(No. 91.)
Sir, Damascas, December 15, 1903.
WITH reference to Mr. Acting Consul Monahan's despatch No. 74 of the 7th
October, 1 have the honour to report as follows concerning the progress in the
construction of the Hejaz Railway.
As already reported, the Damascus-Amman section of the line—a distance of
237 kilom. (148 miles)—is now open for traffic, there being five goods trains and two
passenger trains there and back every week. 1 understand that the traffic receipts are
steadily increasing, the lowest estimate of their total amount per month being £ T. 600,
while persons, inclined perhaps to exaggerate, maintain that they now reach a sum of
£ T. 2,000 per mensem. I think that one may safely put them at £ T. 1,000 a-month.
On this section, there are four stations which are completely built, viz., at Deraa,
Mezerib, Nessib, and Mafrak, while at three other points, viz., Khirbet-es-Semra, Zerka,
and Amman the construction of the stations has nearly reached completion. Ballast,
however, has not been laid over the whole distance.
Beyond Amman, the rails have been laid as far as a place called Debaa, a distance
of 66 kilom. (4miles). Beyond Debaa, the earthworks are completed for another
38 kilom. (g3f miles) to a spot known as Katraneh, and from there for another
70 kilom. (43f miles) to a place called Anazeh the construction of earthworks is now
going on. The rails are at present being laid on the Debaa-Katraneh section, and it
is understood that as soon as this latter place is reached, the operation may be continued
without interruption to Anazeh, seeing that the earthworks will by that time have
been completed up to that point. Erom here (Anazeh) to Maan—a distance of
57 kilom. (35J miles)—the task of constructing earthworks will very shortly be
commenced, it, indeed, it has not already been begun.
To resume, rails have been laid, and so, it may be said, the line is more or less
completed over a distance of 303 kilom.—nearly 190 miles—while over a further
distance of 108 kilom. (67^ miles) the earthworks are more or less completed and the
rails are being laid.
On the whole, therefore, the progress with the work has been fairly satisfactory
during the past year. In the future, however, it will be very much slower, because, owing
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