Jordan's Transport Ministry will seek expressions of interest (EOI) at the end of October for the construction contract of Jordan's $4.3bn national freight railway, MEED has reported. Jordan' existing railway network needs upgrading, so that it can connect with railway networks in Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia, says Alaa Batayneh, transport minister at MEED's Mena Rail Projects 2010 conference. The new railway will be used to transport cargo from Aqaba port and the Far East across the country and into Syria and on to Europe.