Railways of Iraq

A press release (PDF) (here’s a HTML version) by A Al Bahrani, public affairs specialist with Gulf Region South District, Gulf Region Division, US Army Corps of Engineers, with some photos of station repair works at Basrah.

BASRAH, Iraq, June 27, 2007 – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region South District’s rehabilitation of the railway station here is part of the effort to build and develop Iraq’s basic services and strategic infrastructure.

“The $480,000 project provides a critical link for the country of Iraq and it ties the southern portion of the country with the northern portion,” said Thomas Edison, chief of engineering and construction for Gulf Region South.

“The Iraq railroad system provides efficient, reliable transportation, and many people rely on the railroad for traveling. It is also critical for trade and commerce from the deep-water marine port and business centers in southern Iraq to the population centers in northern Iraq,” Edison said.

Stanley Dowdy, Basrah Area Office resident engineer, said the railroad station was unusable without renovation. “The platforms for getting on and off the trains and the walkways were all torn up or removed, and the building structure itself was damaged and unsafe,” he said. “This project installed all new platforms and walkways, as well as renovating portions of the interior and the exterior façade.

“These improvements will greatly facilitate enhanced operations at this site,” he added. “We applaud the Iraqi team with whom we have closely worked in making this challenge become a reality.”

The Corps’ mission for this project consists of performing onsite evaluations and rehabilitation work of seven railway stations throughout the Basrah province. “The goal of the project is to repair the stations and make them safe and efficient once again,” Dowdy said.

“Now, as reconstruction is gaining momentum, the need for a transportation network to provide for efficient movement of essential products such as construction materials, equipment, merchandise, fuel and other supplies is essential for Iraq,” said Hadi Mashkor, the directorate general for Basrah Railroad Station.

Mashkor said rebuilding the rail industry in Basrah is very important to Iraq’s economy. Basrah is one of the oldest cities in Iraq and it is in the heart of the petroleum industry. It directly affects the Iraqi economy.

“Being able to transport goods and services is vital to a growing region and economy. The railroad system will continue to grow in serving the Iraqi people,” Edison said.

Finnish firm Desec has supplied two TL70 track machines to Iraq.

Iraqi Republic Railways Company received two Switch Laying Machines type DESEC TRACKLAYER TL 70 from Desec Ltd, Finland in March 2007. The contract includes also spare parts and large training package in Finland.

The Contract was awarded to Desec after international tender and hard competition. The contract further strengthens Desec Ltd’s position as leader manufacturer of switch laying machine in the world and in Middle-East.

The Desec Tracklayer (TL) is a multi-purpose machine for track renewal. TL’s speciality is turnout (switch) replacement. It is a unique machine since it can independently pick up track- and turnout panels from any place where they are laid or from a wagon, move them to the working site and install them to the track with great speed and accuracy. The machine grips the load being carried against the bottom of the Tracklayer’s body, so that no sag or distortion of the load occurs. In five minutes the machine can load and unload itself off and onto the flat wagon or trailer for transportation from site to site within loading gauge as an ordinary freight transport on rails.

Due to increasing requirements for fastness, cost-efficiency and quality in turnout replacement the DESEC Turnout Laying -system has increasingly replaced the conventional systems in turnout assembly and replacing.

So far 29 Desec Tracklayers have been sold to 15 countries worldwide.

Detroit News dated 14 June carries a report from Eric English/Associated Press

After years of running railroads in Michigan, Richard Van Buskirk Jr. decided to take his expertise to Iraq and help with a dangerous mission.

The 58-year-old East Tawas executive and Vietnam veteran spent the past year working as a consultant for the U.S. Department of State, helping Iraqis rebuild their national railway system.

“Their railroad had been severely damaged when the country was taken over by coalition forces,” said Van Buskirk, who returned home in April. “We’re helping them glue back together the things we destroyed.”

…
It was 12 months he’ll never forget.

“I’ll be honest with you, it was a great adventure,” he said.

Van Buskirk said he applied for the job in 2006 when he saw an Internet advertisement for a position as a railroad adviser in Iraq.

“It sounded incredibly challenging, and it’s about doing the right thing,” he said.

“They need our help over there and they need people with experience.”

While overseas, Van Buskirk said he was able to reopen 720 miles of rail lines to allow train shipments to resume.

…
Van Buskirk said Iraq is rich in natural resources, and its railroad is modern and well built.

More at the Detroit News website

Collector of Iraqi railway stamps Rainer Fuchs e-mails to highlight an article on the Iraq The Lasting Love blog, about the history and legends of the old al Sarrafiya bridge in Baghdad, which was blown up on April 12.

The bridge formerly carried a metre-gauge railway. The book Middle East Railways by Hugh Hughes says the bridge was built by London firm Holloway Bros, and opened to rail traffic in October 1950, replacing a wagon ferry which could just manage about 72 four-wheelers a day.