IOR/L/PS/12/2078

This volume largely consists of copies of Colonial Office and Foreign Office and correspondence. The correspondence concerns the possibility of the Hejaz railway being reconditioned and extended. A large part of the correspondence discusses the issue of ownership regarding the Hejaz railway. Much of the correspondence documents attempts by the British to dismiss claims that the railway had been legally recognised as a waqf during Ottoman rule. Matters discussed in relation to the railway include the following:

• The history of the Hejaz railway.
• Details of the proceedings of the Muslim Conference in Jerusalem in 1931, and of its resolutions regarding the Hejaz railway (not formally recognised by the British), in which it is argued that the line is a waqf.
• Reports that the Saudi Government is prepared to put aside the question of ownership in order to discuss with the British and French the restitution of the railway.
• Details of a Hejaz railway conference between the British, French, and Saudi governments, held at Haifa in October 1935.
• The issue of whether the British Government should contribute towards the reconstruction of the Saudi Arabian section of the railway.

Correspondents include the following: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard); His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires, Jedda (Albert Spencer Calvert, succeeded by Alan Charles Trott); His Majesty's Consul at Damascus (Edwyn Cecil Hole, succeeded by Gilbert Mackereth); the High Commissioner for Palestine and Transjordan (Arthur Grenfell Wauchope); the Secretary of State for the Colonies; His Majesty's Ambassador in Paris (Eric Phipps); the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs; various officials of the Colonial Office and Foreign Office.

In addition to correspondence, the file includes the following items:

• A copy of a memorandum by the British Consul at Damascus on the history of the Hejaz railway and its management by Compagnie Damas-Hama et Prolongments (DHP).
• A copy of an extract from the proceedings of the aforementioned Muslim Conference.
• A copy of the minutes and two copies (one in English and one in French) of the resolutions of the Hejaz railway conference.

As well as the aforementioned resolutions, the file contains a number of letters written in French. The Arabic material consists of a short passage taken from correspondence that is translated elsewhere in the file.

The file includes two dividers, which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence.