The line
Work on the Hejaz Railway began in 1900 at al-Muzayrib in Hauran, Syria. Inaugurated in 1908, the 1,320 km line ran on a 1,050 mm gauge and cut the journey from Damascus to Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah from forty days to five, until it closed in 1916 during the First World War.
Its Madinah terminus, Anbariyah Station, known locally as the Istasyon, stands on Anbariyah Street overlooking Anbariyah Square, about 1 km west of the Prophet's Mosque.
From station to museum
The antiquities authority took over the site in 1984, the restoration project began in 1998, and the first phase of the museum opened on Monday 9 December 2013 in the main station building and the locomotive repair workshop. Fourteen halls trace Madinah from prehistory through the Prophet's era, the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the Islamic eras to the First and Second Saudi States and the reign of King Abdulaziz.
A second phase adds five halls, including collections from the King Abdulaziz Library and the Prophet's Mosque and a children's hall. Restored trains and carriages have a building of their own, and twelve old carriages now serve as the Train Restaurant, beside a handicrafts market and a traditional café.