Railways of Iraq

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.

Kimberly Johnson of USA Today reports on IRR

Iraq’s railroad, which dates back to the final years of the Ottoman Empire nearly a century ago, is struggling to make a comeback.

… It’s a hot, dusty ride either to go from Baghdad north to Mosul (225 miles) or south to Basra (340 miles), the main passenger routes. Either trip is cheap at the equivalent of about 50 cents one way, but the rides can take up to 12 hours. The trains rattle along the tracks at 30 mph. The coaches aren’t air-conditioned, and attacks by insurgents are a constant worry.

…

Just recently, the rail company acquired 40 Russian-built coaches [does anyone know any more about these?] and 14 fireproof coaches from Turkey.

[more]

Portal Iraq reports:

Ninety-seven railway stations have been renovated by the Facilities & Transportation (F&T) Sector of the Project & Contracting Office (PCO). The $42 million railroad program has 28 more stations to complete.

Forty-one of the completed stations are in northern Iraq throughout the governorates of Salah al-Din, Ninewa and Tameem.

…

There are two main types of railway stations under renovation: five-room crew stations used only by railway workers, and nine-room passenger stations for use both by railway passengers and railway workers, according to the PCO. Of the 97 railway stations to be worked on by the PCO, approximately 22 are passenger stations; the rest are crew stations only.

Currently the railway works out to be about 30 percent passenger use and 70 percent freight use. [more]