CAIRO — The last year seems to have been a successful one for the Suez Canal. In a statement to Youm al-Sabeh newspaper on Dec. 31, Mohab Mamish, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority and the head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, said the canal revenues increased by 89.9% in 2017 compared to 2016. He expects them to grow further with the opening of the logistics zone and surrounding investment zones.

However, Mamish’s optimism is not enough to lift the doubts tormenting many Egyptians about the long-term feasibility of the Suez Canal Area Development Project launched by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in 2014.

On Dec. 13, Israeli Minister of Intelligence and Transportation Yisrael Katz announced Israel's intention to revive a competitor to the Suez Canal, the Hejaz railway project linking the Israeli port of Haifa to the Gulf states.

The Hejaz railway was built in 1908 to link Damascus to Medina through the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia. It was supposed to extend to Mecca to facilitate pilgrimage to the holy city. A branch was added to the railway to Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea. But when World War I broke out, the railway and its branches were partially destroyed and the rest closed.