World’s worst services: The night train to Basra
Whenever you feel depressed about the state of the railways in Britain, just turn to the latest ‘Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable’. The new edition is a bargain at £13.99, the Bible for terrestrial travellers beyond the bounds of Europe. But the tireless compilers have their work cut out to promote travel by train when so many nations appear to be doing their best to dismantle the railways.
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But there is one glimmer of hope in an unlikely location: “We have had a report that there is now a night train between Baghdad and Basra. It apparently leaves three times a week (which days are unknown) at 1600 and takes 18 hours with no stops en route.”
Source: The Independent 2009-07-08
Archive for the ‘Iraq's railways’ Category
Thomas Cook on Iraqi rail services
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009Steel tender
Sunday, June 21st, 2009Ministry of Transport
Iraqi Republic Railways Co
Dept / Central purchasing
Ref / RBG / Steel Wire
Date 17 / 6 / 2009
Tender AnnouncementThe Iraqi railways company “IRR” Baghdad Iraq announces the issuanace of the following tender.:
Supplying of 500 ton of steel wire 3mm diameter for prestressed concrete sleepers according to specification s , Documents, special and general condition of the tender which can be obtained (by authorized representative of the company) from commercial department in Iraq railways head quarter building in Baghdad against the payment of non- refundable of (150000 I.D) one hundred and fifty thousands Iraqi dinar , 1% one percentage of tender price should be pay as initial insurances according to bank guarantee or approved check issued from any Iraqi bank relied the Central Bank or Iraq. The tender should be contain technical and commercial offers consider that the technical design is part of the technical offer. All the tender should be put in closed envelope in the tender box of the state Company of Iraqi Railways – Headquarter at Baghdad Central railways station – Damascus squar , Baghdad , Iraq.
The closing date will be Sunday 19/ 7 / 2009 12:00 noon Baghdad local time.
IRR is not obliged to accept the lowest prices and the submitted price will be regarded as final prices .
Offers not complying with the general conditions of the tender will be neglected.
Streamliner modelled in O-gauge
Sunday, June 7th, 2009David Argent has built an O-scale model of one of the three PC class streamlined pacific locomotives supplied to Iraq by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns in 1941. There was a fourth, 504 Kirkuk, but the ship was sunk en route.
Wikipedia has a lot of information on them. A very detailed article on the locos appeared in Railway Gazette in 1941.
Locomotives in action in Basra
Sunday, May 10th, 2009Two photographs by Matt Fallon showing Iraqi Republic Railways locomotives in action at Al Malqal, the port at Basra.
DEM2817 is one of 30 locomotives supplied by Ukraine’s Lugansk Locomotive Works. The shunter is from Turkish firm Tülomsas.
IRR locomotive DEM2817 at Al Malqal, Basra (Photo: Matt Fallon).
IRR shunting locomotive at Al Malqal, Basra (Photo: Matt Fallon).
Iraqi passenger services in The Times
Sunday, April 19th, 2009The 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.
