Hejaz Train Station

Lonely Planet review

A little south and west of Al-Merjeh, the grand Hejaz Train Station, completed in 1917, was the northern terminus of the Hejaz Railway, built to ferry pilgrims to Medina. Compared with the transport palaces of Europe the station is a provincial affair, but the interior has a beautiful decorated ceiling.

The actual platforms of the station are closed - a much-delayed project was to see the station expanded to include a high-rise hotel, shopping mall and underground railway - and all trains now leave from Khaddam station. There is a pleasant bar-café, a steam locomotive dating from 1908, and a public water fountain erected at the same time as the station.