Turkey, Syria and Jordan have agreed to modernize their railway systems with the aim of eventually creating a contiguous corridor between southern Europe and the Persian Gulf, according to Turkey’s transportation minister.

Abdulkadir Uraloglu told Bloomberg on April 15 that he had reached the agreement with his Syrian and Jordanian counterparts in a meeting last week. He said the network is expected to take four to five years to build, after which it is planned to be connected to the rail system in Saudi Arabia.

Uraloglu didn’t provide details about the project’s financing, saying only that discussions on the topic are ongoing.

The project will also include improvements to roads leading to Turkey, he added, though the extent of that work is not yet clear.