IRAQ Railway Network

[kurd123]

Originally Posted by sheytanElKebir

no line to erbil. in fact no railways at all in kurdistan at the moment.

there is certainly a "plan" to have railways there... but like all iraqi "plans" a pinch of salt is in order.

to be honest, these people are building railways now in the south, musayib, karbala, samawa-najaf line etc... which ARE being built. but is there really a point? since they are not even making any use of the existing facilities and lines AT ALL. and there's almost 3k of track and hundreds of locos and thousands of rolling stock sitting idle.

I have no idea, never seen/heard of it.

The penal system too, is in need of great repair. In Saddam’s time, there were just a couple of prisons in the whole country (one of which was Abu Graib). As a result, there are real pressures on dealing with prisoners in Kurdistan. We visited one in Erbil (a former British built railway station), which was desperately overcrowded.

http://roberthalfon.blogspot.com/201...kurdistan.html

[sheytanElKebir]

i did write

at the moment.

the old
baghdad west - baghdad north - baghdad east - baqubah - khanaqin - tawuq - kirkuk - erbil

The old meter gauge line using steam locos was closed about 30 years ago. there are no tracks there or any other infrastructure. in fact even the steel from the bridge from baghdad west to baghdad north was recycled (currently its called the sarafiya bridge) and the old baghdad north and baghdad east stations melted away...




this is the train in baghdad east station (that no longer exists) on its way towards Baquba - Kirkuk - erbil




here's an IPC train at kirkuk (old station no longer exists)



Its similar to the old line the british had constructed through south east iraq during WW1... which completely melted away... http://gwrarchive.org/site/sitel2pg/Iraq/iraq.php


so sad,

[BigDreamer]

can you please explain by what you mean "melted away" ? what exactly happened to them ?

[sheytanElKebir]

The tracks and signals removed for their scrap value, stations either demolished or converted to some other use.

these were old narrow gauge things, so by 1980 they were way past their sell by date. but by then iraq was going broke so they didn't replace them

i do note saddam still had money in the 1980s to hook up every small village in anbar with a train as well as a train to connect tikrit-baiji with haditha but that's another story...

[BigDreamer]

I see..

do you know what happened to the old locos ? I hope they are in a museum somewhere

[sheytanElKebir]

they ended up either scrapped or in kirkuk and shalchiya scrap yards...

[sheytanElKebir]

Iraqi trains to stop rolling from Monday
(AFP) – 12 hours ago
BAGHDAD — Iraq's train network is to suspend all operations from Monday because of a cut in state aid needed to pay staff, an Iraqi National Railway Company spokesman said.
INRC "will cease to operate from Monday following a decision taken on February 10 by the finance ministry to stop loaning us money as of this month, which prevents us from paying staff salaries," said Jawad al-Kharsan.
The 12,000 employees plan to demonstrate on Monday at stations nationwide, while protesters are to march from Baghdad's Central Station to the Green Zone, the high-security which houses the main ministries and premier's office.
Under a 2003 deal, the finance ministry was to loan the company 75 billion dinars ($63.5 million) a year until 2014 to cover its operating deficit, as annual revenues from fares amount to only nine billion dinars, Kharsan said.
"The government was to decide how INRC would repay the loans after this period and on steps to make INRC more competitive. But the ministry terminated the agreement in a letter and has asked INRC to turn to banks from now on."
Iraq's rail network covers 2,000 kilometres (3,000 miles) of track.
The company transports one million passengers a year between Baghdad and Basra in the south, and from the capital to the Turkish border via the northern city of Mosul.
The INRC also ferries goods to the Syrian border to the west, as well as crude oil and refined petroleum products between Baghdad and Baiji, 200 kilometres north of the capital.
The finance ministry was not available for comment on Thursday.
Iraq has been hit by two weeks of angry demonstrations calling for improved basic services. On Wednesday, a teenager was killed and 27 others wounded in clashes in Kut, south of Baghdad.

[BigDreamer]

[sheytanElKebir]

the entire rail company must be completely overhauled. Just 9Bn ID in revenue for a year?? what the hell is that? Operational expenditure of 84bn ID?

sad sad state of affairs.

[sheytanElKebir]

a picture from this year. people going to the ziyara from Baghdad by train.



tehy even made use of saddam's private train "train 13"

[BigDreamer]

I'm not sure if this has been posted before:

[sheytanElKebir]

The Iraqi Transport Ministry announced on Tuesday that it has reached agreement with Turkey to import modern train carriages costing about $9 million [11 billion Iraqi dinars].
The carriages currently used by Iraqi Railways to transport goods and passengers are old and unable to meet the requirements of commercial transport with the regional countries, according to a report from AKnews.
The agreement Tuesday is a move to improve and expand Iraqi railways, the company’s official spokesman told the agency.
“The Iraqi Railway Company will rehabilitate the rail system completely. it seeks to attract Turkish and Iranian companies to invest in its rail infrastructure” he said.

[sheytanElKebir]

The Iraqi Railway Company [Iraqi National Rail Company] has announced that its revenues for March totalled $1.4 million [1.7 billion Iraqi dinars], according to a report from AKnews.
The company’s assistant general manager, Salam Jaber Salloum, told the agency that proceeds from the transfer of freight reached $310,000 with the remaining revenues coming from the sale of passenger fares.
The company had sales of $1.3 million for the month of February.
“The railway company is working to develop its services through advanced transfer tools that will provide it with healthy revenues during the coming period,” he said.
The Transport Ministry began working on plans to reorganize and develop the country’s rail network earlier this year after it was announced in January that the railway company was losing $61 million each year through its payroll, while annual revenues were not exceeding $10 million.

[makaay31]

Baghdad-Aleppo railway completed
02/05/2011 15:28

Baghdad, May 2 (AKnews) – The railway connecting Baghdad with the Syrian city, Aleppo, was officially completed yesterday, the Iraqi Transport Ministry announced.

The project involved constructing a connecting spur, 150 km long. The trains will travel up to 100 kilometers per hour.

Spokesperson for the General Railways Company Jawad al Kharsan told AKnews: "The railway line between Baghdad and Aleppo would be the most important transmission lines owned by Iraq as it will enhance commercial and economic exchanges between Baghdad and Syria, and it will contribute to the transportation of passengers."

The Directorate of Railways has confirmed this month that its financial takings reached to IQD1.6 billion in March. Iraq's Transport Ministry announced that the next round of railway licensing round will be launched soon.

Iraq is looking to build an integrated transport network with the regional countries to link the Mediterranean, the Arabic Gulf and East Asia.

Reported by Jaafar al-Wannan
RN\PS

[elusive]

Originally Posted by makaay31

Baghdad-Aleppo railway completed
02/05/2011 15:28

Baghdad, May 2 (AKnews) – The railway connecting Baghdad with the Syrian city, Aleppo, was officially completed yesterday, the Iraqi Transport Ministry announced.

The project involved constructing a connecting spur, 150 km long. The trains will travel up to 100 kilometers per hour.

Spokesperson for the General Railways Company Jawad al Kharsan told AKnews: "The railway line between Baghdad and Aleppo would be the most important transmission lines owned by Iraq as it will enhance commercial and economic exchanges between Baghdad and Syria, and it will contribute to the transportation of passengers."

The Directorate of Railways has confirmed this month that its financial takings reached to IQD1.6 billion in March. Iraq's Transport Ministry announced that the next round of railway licensing round will be launched soon.

Iraq is looking to build an integrated transport network with the regional countries to link the Mediterranean, the Arabic Gulf and East Asia.

Reported by Jaafar al-Wannan
RN\PS

awesome! is it a new link?

[makaay31]

the only thing i know is that there was a line from baghdad to aleppo in the '20 and '30, that line was part of the baghdad railway (baghdad - berlin)

[Alyaa]

[elusive]

nice video thanks! you're on a roll today lol

[BigDreamer]

good news

thanks alyaa

[sheytanElKebir]

Originally Posted by BigDreamer

good news

thanks alyaa

this is from several years ago when the railway station had a minor renovation.