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The Ottoman sultan Abdülhamid II launched the construction of the Hejaz Railway in 1900. The line was to link Damascus to Medina. It reached Medina on 1 September 1908.
The Tabuk station dates from 1906, according to the inventory of Islamic heritage drawn up with the Commission for Tourism and Heritage. The site keeps the station, fortification elements, a windmill, a water tower and old wagons.
During the Arab Revolt (1916-1918), the line was attacked; south of Maʿan, it was abandoned after 1918.
In March 2022, the Heritage Commission listed two separate items in the national register: “the main station of Tabuk” and “the Hejaz Railway museum in Tabuk”. The museum therefore occupies the whole station.
Merger note: the coordinates given for the “Tabuk regional museum” (28.3878143, 36.5619096) are about 40 metres from the station, in the same enclosure. Saudipedia also describes another “Tabuk museum”, opened in 2004 in the exhibition hall of the Education directorate. That is not the same place.
What is certain and what is not
- Certain: the Hejaz line was launched in 1900 and reached Medina in 1908.
- Certain: the Tabuk station and the Tabuk railway museum are listed in the national register (March 2022).
- Certain: the station is dated 1906 (inventory of Islamic heritage, Commission for Tourism and Heritage).
- Uncertain: the museum's opening date and its present contents. An article from 2016 announced that the work would be finished by September 2016, with no confirmation found.
- Uncertain: the status of the “Tabuk regional museum” in this same complex (open or planned).
- To check on site: opening hours, entrance fee, buildings open to the public.
- Islamic Architectural Heritage, entry “Hijaz Railway Station Tabuk” (sources: Commission for Tourism and Heritage, Archnet): https://islamicarchitecturalheritage.com/?p=2278
- Sabq, listing of the station and the museum (7 March 2022): https://sabq.org/article/G6DyEiC
- Saudipedia, Tabuk Museum (a separate museum, 2004): https://saudipedia.com/en/tabuk-museum
- Saudipedia, railway museum (Medina, background on the line): https://saudipedia.com/en/the-railway-museum
- Wikipedia (supplementary), Hejaz railway: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hejaz_railway
- Salaam Gateway (2016, progress of the work): https://salaamgateway.com/story/recapturing-railway-history-a-slow-effort-in-saudi-arabia