You are the most beloved...

While departing from Makkah, Rasullullah(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) halted on a plateau, faced the Qibla and said: "By Allah! You are the most beloved portion of Allah's earth to me, and verily you are the most beloved portion of the earth to Allah too. Verily you are the best, spot on the face of the earth. And the most beloved to Allah. If your people did not expel me, I would not have departed from you." (Al-Muatta)

Rasullullah(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) stated in a Hadith- "The best and the most beloved city on the face of this earth to Allah is Makkah." (Sahih Al-Bukhari)

Hejaz Railway in Madina

The Hejaz Railway was a narrow gauge railway (1,050 mm (3 ft 5+1⁄3 in) track gauge) that ran from Damascus to Medina, through the Hejaz region of Arabia, with a branch line to Haifa, on the Mediterranean Sea. It was a part of the Ottoman railway network and was built in order to extend the previously existing line between Istanbul and Damascus (which began from the Haydarpaşa Terminal) all the way to the holy city of Mecca (eventually being able to reach only Medina due to the interruption of the construction works caused by the outbreak of World War I).
The railway was started in 1900 at the behest of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II and was built largely by the Turks, with German advice and support. The railway reached Medina on September 1, 1908. Read More