Archive for April, 2009

Iraqi passenger services in The Times

Sunday, April 19th, 2009

The Times had a couple of articles about passenger services in Iraq last week.

One is Iraq’s struggle to get railway back on track after neglect and war (14 April 2009). It seems the Baghdad – Dora commuter service is somewhat unsuccessful, but “Against the odds, the minister has reopened a nightly passenger route between Baghdad and Basra. A train also runs every Friday to Samarra, a holy city to the north of the capital, carrying pilgrims to its golden-domed shrine. Last month a weekly service resumed between Baghdad and Fallujah.”

In Taken for a ride in Baghdad… (13 April 2009) the newspaper’s Baghdad Correspondent, Deborah Haynes, decribes how the Ministry of Transport organised a press trip on the commuter train … but something wasn’t quite right about it.

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Posted in Iraq's railways | 1 Comment »

Railways of Afghanistan website relaunched

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

The Railways of Afghanistan website has been relaunched with a new, more permanent and easier to use home at
http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/afghanistan/

This will bring all the news, updates and historical articles about Afghanistan together in one place, without being mixed up with the sound mirrors news as well.

There is a dedicated Railways of Afghanistan RSS feed, if you want to be alerted when the website is updated.

Meanwhile, it has been drawn to my attention that someone is nicking my text and republishing it on a web forum in HMP Australia. Sometimes he isn’t even crediting the source, and sometimes he is making it look like I’ve actually written it for them.

Obviously I’m all in favour of quotation, fair use and being linked to, but please don’t pinch my text without first asking.

I’ve been a bit sensitive about copyright since someone “borrowed” my Afghan railway history for a rather dubious political website which I really didn’t want to be associated with (though they did take it down when I sent the webmaster a nastygram)…

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A ride from Baghdad to Basra

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

The Washington Post of 1 April 2009 has a feature by Anthony Shadid who rode the tran from Baghdad to Basra.

A Journey Into the Iraq of Recollection

Two clock towers stand like sentinels on each side of a turquoise dome built half a century ago. Musty ticket counters advertise lines that no longer run: to Mosul, to Husaybah, and across the border, to Syria and Turkey. Flickering chandeliers illuminate distinctions — Couchette Class, Tourist Class — that no longer matter.

There are some photos of the train interiors.

The Financial Times also had a version of the same article, Iraqis back on track to a normal life. At 6.25pm, the horn blows and home-bound workers and students throw their jackets, shoulder bags and tightly rolled carpets on the rack overhead. They settle into frayed green leather seats – their murmur like that of an audience before a play.

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