Lawrence of Arabia train faces quiet demise

… a lack of passengers and improved highways may kill off the Hejaz once and for all, a quiet demise for a train that entered popular imagination thanks to Lawrence’s war exploits, later turned into the classic film “Lawrence of Arabia.”

On one recent morning, only four passengers climbed aboard for the Amman-Damascus trip through Jordan’s ochre deserts and Syria’s fertile plains, the railway’s only surviving service.

The 175-km (109 miles) journey takes 2-1/2 half hours by car, but on the Hejaz it can last anywhere from seven to 10, depending on seemingly endless delays at local stations and emergency stops to remove goats and vagrants from the tracks.

• Lots of information on the Hedjaz line.