JORDAN NEW AMMAN TO DAMASCUS EXPRESS TRAIN

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(29 Jul 1999) Arabic/Nat • • A new express rail service between Amman and Damascus was inaugurated on Thursday. • • The rail link signifies an improvement in relations between Jordan and Syria following the death of Jordan's King Hussein last February. • • Syrian President Hafez Assad was highly critical of the late King Hussein following Jordan's peace deal with Israel, but tensions have eased in the wake of his death. • • A yellow and red diesel train adorned with posters of Jordan's King Abdullah and Syria's President Hafez Assad pulled out of Amman station on the inaugural run of express passenger service between the two countries. • • The Hejaz Railway was initially launched by the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the century. • • Nearly a century later, the line from Amman to Damascus has finally been changed into an express route. • • It will take the passengers six hours instead of twelve hours to cross the 228 kilometres (143 miles) between the two Arab capitals. • • SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) • For the timing we hear that the (new) trip would take four hours (to the border), others say it would take eight hours, I want to try myself to find out. I expect that the trip will be interesting. • SUPER CAPTION: Sidiq Al-Yamani • • At the same time as around 120 passengers were boarding at Amman station on the Jordanian side,some 32 passengers were leaving Damascus for the Syrian leg of the service. • • For this inaugural service, the two trains were to exchange passengers at a border station. • • Six trains - three diesel and three steam - have been renovated at an estimated cost of 100 thousand U-S dollars for the service. • • SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) • I expect that this train will be better than the old one and the relations between us and Syria would be also better. • SUPER CAPTION: Mohamed Hani, a restaurant owner • • Before the upgrade, the Amman-Damascus line ran only once a week. • • The old steam trains would carry freight and a maximum of 10 passengers. • • Some one-thousand passengers are expected to take the express service every week. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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