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Jordan: Tourist train operating at less than half its capacity

AMMAN -- The new Aqaba-Wadi Rum tourist train, envisaged to be a major boost for tourism in the area, has been doing far less business than expected, a project official said Saturday.

Hussein Al Share from the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) said the train has been operating at less than half its capacity since its launch in March due to weak promotional efforts.

"The train was expected to make a trip every Friday, instead it is only making two trips a month," Share told The Jordan Times.

The JD247,000 project was initiated by the Aqaba Railway Corporation and the Ministry of Tourism to diversify tourism in the southern governorate.

The six-carriage train, which adopts the old style steam and diesel locomotives of the Hijaz Railway, takes passengers on a 56-kilometre journey through the desert landscapes of Aqaba and Wadi Rum.

Included in the trip is a brief documentary about Jordan's heritage and the Great Arab Revolt, as well as dining facilities on board.

The train makes three stops during its two-and-a-half hour journey, each for around 20 minutes, to fill up with water and allow passengers to tour historical landmarks.

These include tours of the Aqaba Citadel, the residence of Sharif Hussein Ben Ali --His Majesty King Abdullah's great grandfather -- the new museum in Wadi Rum and the site of the Great Arab Revolt.

Around 100 travel agents were invited to the soft opening of the tourist train in March, but Share said little was done to highlight the tourist train on their promotional maps.

The Ministry of Tourism was expected to produce pamphlets promoting the train, but the funding was never allocated from its budget.

Share said ASEZA would now be working to produce these brochures over the next two months.

He said around 180 Danish tourists had taken the train ride over the past two months, as well as television crews from Australian and a British filming documentaries on the history of Wadi Rum and the train itself.

The ASEZA official said the train was expected to make 60 trips a year, with up to 140 passengers on each trip to manage the train's operational costs, which stand at JD4,200 per trip.

He said low demand coupled with weak promotion means the train will make half of these trips with no more than 50 passengers on each trip, adding that the train should make at least two trips a month carrying 110-120 passengers to break even.

By Dalya Dajani

© Jordan Times 2006