Railways of Iraq

In some better news, Payvand’s Iran News reports

Tehran, 28 January 2006 (CHN) — Khoramshahr city in Khuzestan province is going to be connected to Basra through a railway line.

“Based on an agreement between Iran Ministry of Road and Transportation and Iraqi authorities, Iran and Iraq will construct railways to be connected to each other,” said Seyed Ali Akbar Mousavi, director of Arvand Free Zone Project.

The route of the railway will start from Khoramshahr, continue to the border city of Shalamcheh and then will connect to the city of Basra in Iraq. It was agreed that Iran be in charge of constructing the Khoramshahr-Shalamcheh railway while Iraq will build the Shalamcheh-Basra railway.

…

Constructions of the said railways are expected to be completed by March 2007.

The Christian Science Monitor has a 1 March 2006 article on the current rather sorry state of IRR, with quotes on what has happened from some names which might be familar to readers of this site.

Those trains that do operate, do so infrequently. A ticket costs just 750 Iraqi dinars (50 cents), making it the cheapest form of transport, but few are willing to brave the journey. Just three largely empty passenger trains a week make the round trip from Baghdad to the northern city of Mosul. There’s an additional passenger train that makes erratic trips between the province of Babel, just south of Baghdad, and Basra. Freight trains, the backbone of the railways, are even scarcer.

The tracks are in such poor condition that the trains travel at half speed, just 40 km/h. What should be a six-hour trip to Mosul, instead takes 10.

I just had an e-mail asking:

Just wondering if you know when the Baghdad – Kirkuk (passing through Khanaqin) line was built? I’m based in Khanaqin and a local sheihk showed me a lantern from this railway.

According to Middle East Railways by Hugh Hughes, the metre-gauge line from Baghdad reached Tiaruq on the Persian frontier in January 1919, and was diverted to “a more useful terminus at Khanaqin” in 1922. The Jalula – Kingerban section dates from 1919, and was extended to Tuz Khurmatu (April 1925) and Kirkuk (August 1925).

It seems the line was taken out of service in 1987, when the standard gauge line from Baiji to Kirkuk was opened. A groundbreaking ceremony had been held in Baiji on February 8 1983, and the ceremonial inauguration was carried out by Minister of Communications Mohammed Hamza Al Zubaidi on November 7 1987.

Rainer Fuchs is developing some webpages and looking for further information about Iraqi Railway Stamps . He has a scan of an Iraq Railways post card issued originally by Turkey, and later overprinted Iraq In British Occupation.

A November 30 press release.

By Suzanne M. Fournier
Gulf Region Southern District
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Twenty-eight railroad stations in the Iraq’s Southern provinces are now modernized, starting at Iskandariyah Station in Northern Babil, just south of Baghdad, reaching south into Thi-Qar Province.
Residents living in Babil, Qadisiyah, Muthana and parts of Thi Qar Provinces can now catch the train at their local train station and travel to destinations within the region, boarding and exiting at clean, safe, healthy, remodeled railroad stations. Rail stations throughout these southern provinces have been repaired, plastered, painted and restored with electricity, water and toilets.

Thi-Qar has two of nine renovations completed. Thi-Qar and Basrah Province rail stations are scheduled to have renovations finished by Spring of next year.

Rail station renovations provide community residents with safe and healthy access to the rail transportation system. Passengers can use the stations to access travel within their local area and eventually to travel throughout Iraq and destinations beyond.

Local businesses can now use the renovated rail stations to ship and receive commodities by scheduling freight movement with their local station master. This will make it easier for businessmen and farmers to ship their products to regional and global markets.

The rail station renovations were completed by the US Army Corps of Engineers using Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Funds.

These existing railroad stations were neglected for decades and previously were in unsafe, unsanitary and unprofessional condition. The renovation work began with cleaning, removing garbage and demolishing unsafe structures. Then terrazzo floor tiles were replaced, plaster was repaired, walls were painted, ceramic tile added to bathrooms, new windows and screens, septic and water systems were replaced, electricity was upgraded and backup generators were installed to provide completely refurbished railroad stations.