This dates from 15 July 2005 . Did anyone go?

At the request of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and Railway Supply Institute Inc. will conduct a briefing July 25 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Washington, D.C., to inform U.S. rail industry suppliers about business opportunities associated with rebuilding Iraq’s railway.

Speakers include Joel Szabat, transportation counselor at the U.S. Embassy’s Iraq Reconstruction Management Office in Baghdad, who serves as lead advisor to the Iraqi minister of transportation; and Jay Brandes, director of the commerce department’s Iraq Investment and Reconstruction Task Force. Szabat will discuss the reconstruction of Iraq’s railway; Brandes will talk about Commerce Department services available to U.S. companies doing business in Iraq and current funding sources.

Al Jazeera reports Iraqi oil tanker train blown up
Fighters have blown up an oil train in Baghdad … Thursday’s hit on the train carrying petroleum products was the first such attack in Iraq, railway spokesman Jawad al-Kharsan said. The explosion ignited a massive blaze extending down the railway line in southern Baghdad and killed an Iraqi soldier. Four others, including a civilian, were injured in the blast. The five-man train crew, however, escaped unhurt, railway officials said.

Mark W Hemphill writes from Baghdad: “Francorail 4141 has returned to service. Possibly one more Francorail will return to service. Both are to be assigned to Al Qa’im to move phosphate rock from Akashat to Al Qa’aim, and limestone rock from Waha to Al Qa’im. Service to Al Qa’im resumed in June. The entire Western Corridor (Baghdad-Al Qa’im-Akashat, Bayji-Haqlaniya) has not had a train movement since October 2003.”

• 2005-07-01 Good news from Mark W Hemphill: Work has commenced on the IRR’s Communications-Based Train-Control system, prime contractor Mafeks LLC, subcontractor Wabtec Railway Electronics. When commissioned in 2006, this system will provide system-wide computer-assisted dispatching from Baghdad, using Direct Traffic Control-Manual Block System authorities with reactive enforcement of authority excursions and speed restrictions. Train movement authorities will be transmitted by redundant paths consisting of radio links to repeaters supported by microwave and fiber-optic backbones, and Iridium satellite, and will be digitally displayed on screens in each locomotive cab. The dispatching consoles show the system graphically and are point-and-click operated. It’s expected that the system will double the current traffic capacity of the IRR and provide a very high level of safety. It will support the possible future installation of traditional line-side signaling, cab signaling, floating-block signaling, or local manual interlockings. System architecture has been developed and currently the system software is being written.

  I’ve examined the preliminary engineering drawings for the Iraq-Iran link between Basra and Khorramshar. The IRR is very excited by this link, and wants to complete it as soon as possible. To my knowledge, construction has not commenced. The most difficult item is a high-level bridge over the Shatt-Al-Arab, estimated at $70 million.

• 2005-07-01 Mark W Hemphill writes from Baghdad: Francorail 4141 has returned to service. Possibly one more Francorail will return to service. Both are to be assigned to Al Qa’im to move phosphate rock from Akashat to Al Qa’aim, and limestone rock from Waha to Al Qa’im. Service to Al Qa’im resumed in June. The entire Western Corridor (Baghdad-Al Qa’im-Akashat, Bayji-Haqlaniya) has not had a train movement since October 2003.
• 2005-06-15 Mark W Hemphill writes from Baghdad

  Things ARE getting better for the IRR. The IRR is steadily increasing its traffic levels, rehabilitating equipment, track, and facilities, and improving its security. From a near-complete operational shutdown in November 2004, it now has 8-16 train starts every day. Current service includes a daily passenger each way between Baghdad and Basra; a tri-weekly passenger train between Baghdad and Mosul (up one day, back the next, off Friday); and daily freight service between Rabiya and Umm Qasr. On the locomotive side, the 2800s (Chinese) are the backbone of the fleet. A few Henschels are running, too, and perhaps a few Macosas and MLWs. All of the Francorails are out of service and I doubt they will ever come back. None of the new Russian locomotives are running.

• 2005-05-31 Khorramshahr-Basra railroad operational by March. Khorramshahr-Basra railway line will become operational by March 2006, announced the head of Khuzestan House of Industries and Mines. Ali Hosseinpour told ILNA that millions of dollars worth of gravel will be exported once the railroad is constructed, stressing that the project will also help cut transportation costs.
• 2005-05-22 A recent photo of Baghdad Central station from Mark W Hemphill
  .
• 2005-05-16 Two Kirkuk rail stations’ reconstruction complete Passengers and consumers in the Kirkuk area will be pleased to learn that two rail station rehabilitation projects were recently completed in Kirkuk. The Kirkuk and Al Maraei stations are the first two completed of four station renovations scheduled in Kirkuk Governorate. Stations in Al Thawra and Al Reyadh are scheduled for completion later this year. From all indications, the once bustling Iraqi rail system is on the track to steady recovery. Both station renovation projects took about four months to complete at a cost of over $70,000 each. The initial work mainly consisted of cleaning and removing rubbish from the sites and demolishing unsafe portions of the buildings. Station renovations included repair and replacement of plumbing and sewer systems, replacement of roofing and other structural components, painting, plastering, installing new windows, doors and frames, as well as flooring and tile.
• Indo German Industries(India) emailed to say they can supply replacement spares for Alco 251 diesel engine such as liner, piston ring, cylinder head, liner sleeve & etc.. as per the international standard. So if you’ve got one, you know who to call! Kremenchuk Steel Casting Works can sell you assorted steel castings (nor surprisingly!), including wagon bogies
• Pictures from Afghanistan, 1922-30.
• Terrorists Confess To Murder Of Iraqi Railway Workers.
  

  The dramatic confession, live on an Iraqi TV station, by a group of terrorists to the brutal and horrific murder of a group of Iraqi railway workers has been followed in the last week by re-opening of passenger railway services on the affected line between Baghdad, Basra and Mosul, Iraq’s capital and her second and third largest cities, the IFTU reports from Baghdad.

  Iraqi Security forces in Mosul report they have caught the criminal killers of 4 Iraqi railway workers; Kasim Shahin (train driver), Maithem Shaker Obeid (train driver), Ahmed Ibrahim (train controller – guard) and Zeyad Tariq (railway security guard) who were murdered on 27 October 2004 when their train carrying consumer goods was attacked on the railway line between Mosul and Baghdad. On the night of 27/28 October 2004, terrorists attacked the train with mortar fire, setting the train on fire, killing all those working on it and mutilating their bodies.

  …

  The IFTU-affiliated Railworkers’ Union also reports that on Saturday 9 April 2005 passenger train services resumed operation between Baghdad, Basra and Mosul following several months’ enforced suspension due to the cowardly attacks by terrorists, such as that mentioned above. The IFTU greeted this good news with confidence that the re-opened train services will be of great benefit to the Iraqi people and contribute to the re-building of a democratic and federal Iraq.

• 2005-03-27 Iraq to revive railway projects An official source at the Iraqi ministry of transportation revealed that the General Railway Company will promote several projects, which were awarded to specialized companies more than 25 years ago, reported the Iraqi Al-Furat newspaper on March 27, 2005.
  These projects listed are Baghdad – Al-Kut, Al-Imara – Basra, Al-Naseriyya – Basra. The railway plans an Al-Qaim – Dir al-Zur connection with Syria, and Baghdad to Iran through al-Shuayba – al-Mahmara. Other projects in the northern Iraq include Baghdad -Baquba, Irbil – Mosul-Zakho and Kirkuk – Suleimanieh.
• 2005-03-23 According to Iraqi Al-Ahli newspaper, the General Railway Company in Iraq has announced its investment plan for the current year, which includes the implementations of numerous projects at the cost of $5bn. In a statement issued by the company, Salaam Jabber Salaam, the managing director of the company said that among the projects is the establishment of railroad links between Baghdad and several other provinces. He added that communication systems will be updated by using sophisticated wireless equipment. In his statement, he also conveyed that the plan includes the repair of important bridges and stations.
• 2004-12-29 Unions condemn terrorist attacks against railway workers Iraqi Federation of Workers Trade Unions condemns insurgent attack on train crew near Basra which led to kidnapping of two and critical injuries to five.
• 2005-03-06 Railroad to link Kuwait and Iraq. The London-based al-Hayat newspaper reported recently on a project to build a railroad connecting Kuwait with Baghdad and Umm Qaser Port.
  The project will require $400m of investment, and the Kuwaiti government decided to create an incorporated company to be responsible for implementing this project. The line link the Suweih, Sha’abiyya, and Doha ports in Kuwait with Baghdad, relieving the pressure on the ports of Basra and Umm Qasr.
• 2005-01-19 Iraqi railway workers strike over attack. Railway workers in the Iraqi city of Basra have walked out on strike to voice their anger over a spate of attacks on transport workers across the country
• 2004-12-22 Contrack International Inc has become the first major US contractor to pull out of the reconstruction effort in Iraq, citing security concerns The Contrack partnership intended to build new roads, bridges and transportation terminals in Iraq, but only managed to refurbish a handful of train depots, company officials said.
• 2004-12 Interview with Arkan Jewad Kadhum of the Railway Workers’ Union. We have a works committee in our depot of 6 representatives now. The RWU has about 10,000 members across Iraq. … Saddam used to move his weapons and army by road, which is why he built so many motorways … We are proud of the Iraqi railways and we have even paid for our own tools to maintain some of the locomotives
• 2004-12-17 Railway reconstruction to be complete in January. The refurbishment of the rail track connecting Basrah with Umm Qasr port is 78 percent complete. In recent months the U.S. Agency for International Development(USAID) installed 29 planned culverts and repaired ten railway gatehouses along the track. … According to USAID … rail remains the least expensive way to move grain, fuel and other bulk cargo around the country.
• 2004-11-28 Renovation of Iraqi train stations set to begin. Contracts worth around $36 million are to be awarded over the next several months to Iraqi firms to renovate some 76 train stations throughout Iraq, said a project manager. The US Army Corps of Engineers and the Programmes and Contracting Office in Baghdad will issue the contracts.
• 2004-11-19 Iraq Reconstruction Weekly Update (PDF). Work is continuing on the construction of 72 km of railroad between the southern port of Umm Qasr and Shuaibah junction near Basrah. The project is expected to be complete by January 2005. During the past week, approximately 17 wagons per day delivered railroad ballast to work sites; ballast is the gravel upon which tracks and ties rest. Track has been laid over 15.5 km on the northern branch line, and 21.5 km on the southern branch line. On the line that connects the system to Umm Qasr Port, track laying and
  surfacing are continuing and 20 ballast wagons have been unloaded for final surfacing in the area. In total, 44.8 of the 72 km have been completed.
• 2004-11-10 Railway reconstruction vital for economic development.
  A huge restoration project to get Iraq’s neglected railways running again is underway, with work starting on three main rail stations in the northern city of Mosul, Baghdad and the southern city of Basra, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) told IRIN in the capital. Work also began in early November on building 28 small stations in towns across Iraq, the MoT said. “This project will give benefit to millions of Iraqis who depend of this mode of transportation,” MoT spokesman, Ahmed Abdul Al-Wahab, told IRIN.
• 2004-10-15 The last 10 locomotives were send to Iraq by LuganskTeplovoz company.
• 2004-10-09 Reconstruction Underway to Restore Iraqi Railroads.
  

  Restoration by the Ministry of Transportation and multinational agencies is now underway, starting with the three main railroad stations at Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. Restoration efforts at another 28 of nearly 130 small stations in cities across Iraq will begin in the next two weeks.

  An anti-aircraft gun on the roof of the Baghdad station made the depot a target during the 2003 ousting of the former regime. A complete modernization of the main terminal is underway and is expected to take about six months to complete.

  …

  Today officials estimate the railroad is running at about 10 percent of its former capacity. Schedules are still very flexible and are expected to remain so for up to a year or more, according to Iraq’s Ministry of Transportation.

  “Much of the work we are doing is to upgrade the electrical wiring, air conditioning system, painting and they are thinking of installing fiber optics as a part of the communication system needed to operate a modern day rail way system,” Shubat said. “After all, a modern communications system is necessary to conduct safe operations.”

• 2004-10-01 A contract had been signed by Saddam’s government for 30 locos. For now there are 15 or 16 were delivered to Iraqi Railways. Due to terrorists danger and war, all personal of LuganskTeplovoz Company have been evacuated from Iraq and for now nobody knows when they will come back to continue teaching Iraq’s people to work with those locomotives.
• 2004-09-20 Contractor User Guide Including an Overview Of The Basra To Umm Qasr Railway Network.
• 2004-08-14 Baghdad Central Railway Station Building.
  

  Iraq Republic Railway (IRR) today held a ceremony to celebrate the start of the rehabilitation of the Baghdad Central Railway Station, gifted by the PCO/US Mission-Iraq. The building is badly in need of repair from years of looting and neglect. During the rehabilitation, approximately 200 Iraqis will be working to make the facility a comfortable, clean, and safe place for the 200 employees and thousands of railway customers of the railway.

  …

  The renovation, which started on August 12, will restore all building systems including heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing, electrical, and power as well as fencing and lighting. The non-construction portion of the project will include spare parts for the diesel locomotives which come from England [? are these really English, or are they North American?], the Czech Republic, Poland [what are these?], China, Russia, Germany, and France.

  Trains will be equipped with VISTAR tracking device which will track all engines at any one time to enhance safety and security. …

• 2004-07-25. Fat controller Saddam played games with his golden train. The Sunday Times has an article about Saddam’s personal train, and the effects of looting.

  Even though Saddam seldom used it, the bed linen on board was changed each day and the restaurant car was stocked with his favourite whisky.
  Don’t ask me why anyone would walk off with the master cylinder of a Chinese locomotive, but they did said Rick Degman
  It’s when they fire rocket-propelled grenades that you have a problem a train driver said.

  A copy of the text of the article.

• 2004-07-11. Interview with Subhi Abdullah Mashadani, General Secretary Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions. with a discussion of working conditions for Iraqi railway staff, and trade union news from the country.
• 2004-07-11. The September 2004 issue of Railway Magazine has a Rick Degman photo on p8 showing Baghdad Central station.
• 2004-07-11. Continental Railway Journal no.138 Summer 2004 has a brief mention of Iraq. It is a bit confused, and quotes the DEM2700 class as being built in Romania and refurbished in China. They are Chinese, as stated on the works plates and the Dalian Loco works website.
• 2004-07-04. Greenbrier and Boston Transit announce Iraqi freight car order for Poland. The Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority has made an award of an order for 240 railroad container flat platforms to be built by The Greenbrier Companies’ Polish manufacturing operation, Wagony Swidnica … The Company has provided freight wagons to the Iraq region in the past, but this order is the first for freight wagons for that region in over 20 years.
  PDF press release.
• 2004-06-22. Luhansk-Made Diesel Locomotives Operating in Iraq. …the first two locomotives arrived at the Falujah railway station, about 70 km from Baghdad, on February 14. Two heavy-duty devices unloaded them: a 120-ton railway crane and a 160-ton truck-mounted one. The other locomotives were unloaded in the Iraqi town of Abu-Ghraid, 15 km from Baghdad.
• June 2004. Iraq – Railway Sector (warning – MS Word .doc!). History, current situation, UKTI Export Strategy 2004/2005. Iraq is not one of the priority markets that have been identified by UKTI and the Railway Sector Advisory Group in their strategy document.
• 2004-06-04. Overview of Key Industry Sectors in Iraq – railways. Iraq has approximately 1,525 miles of rail line, though about half of it is considered to be in poor condition. A lack of signals and poorly maintained tracks cause considerable delays as train travel speeds are significantly reduced. Five main rail lines exist: 1) Baghdad to Basra and Umm Qasr; 2) Baghdad to Mosul and Syria; 3) Baghdad to Al Ramadi to Al Qaim; 4) Al Qaim to Akashat; and 5) Kirkuk to Baiji and Haditha. Along these lines are 107 stations. Many of these stations, as well as maintenance shops and offices, were looted. Service has resumed at a moderate level, with about ten trains running per day. Iraq’s rolling stock has deteriorated severely over the past few decades. A lack of maintenance has caused an accumulation of inoperable stock. Of the stock that does function, there are roughly 150 locomotives, 150 passenger cars, and 8,000 flatbeds and cargo cars, a small number of which transport oil …
• 2004-05-29. Iraq being plundered.
  A US newspaper reports that military equipment and oil rig parts are being smuggled out of Iraq in a scale tantamount to looting. … The [New York Times] said one of its reporters saw “piles of valuable copper and aluminum ingots and bars, large stacks of steel rods and water piper and giant flanges for oil equipment, all in nearly mint condition, as well as chopped-up railroad boxcars…

  This seems to be the original article: Valuable building blocks are leaving Iraq as scrap.

• 2004-05-27. New rail link between Iraq and Arab Gulf states. There is an economic case for linking the country [Iraq] by rail with the oil-rich Gulf states, says a senior railway official. Hilal Abdulridha, head of railway projects, said the line will be economically viable as it will make it easier for commodities to be shuffled to and from Iraq to these countries. Abdulridha said only a stretch of about 15-long kilometer rail needs to be constructed on the Iraqi side to link it with Kuwait. [Let’s hope he knows there is no railway in Kuwait for it to join on to!]
• 2004-05-10. Watch for an article on life with Iraq’s railways by Rick Degman in the July issue of Trains magazine.
• 2004-05-10. The May edition (issue 81) of the French magazine Rail Passion has an illustrated feature on Iraqi railways. Lots of good pictures of the Chinese locos at work, and a description of a trip from Baghdad to Basrah. It is in French, so je ne comprends pas what it all says!
• 2004-03-10 Iraqi railway police receive 300 sets of body armor. Today, the Iraqi Railway Police (IRP) received 300 sets of body armor from the US military. At a ceremony in downtown Baghdad…
• 2004-02-14. The Coalition Provisional Authority is recruiting!
  

  RAILWAY TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR ($52,281 – $80,818 Annual)

  The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) is seeking highly skilled and deeply motivated United States citizens to assist in rebuilding the government and industry of Iraq and Afghanistan. Applicants with experience in train control technology and specific knowledge of state-of-the-art technology for railroad communications and signaling are highly desirable. … Those selected can expect to remain in the overseas area for 6-12 months depending upon the needs of the CPA.

  Duties: Works with all departments in the application of new technologies related to the railway. Will have specific responsibility for development, acquisition and implementation of a Communications-Based Train Control (CBTM) system that will largely replace the obsolete and destroyed conventional signal system formerly in use, as well as oversight responsibility for the VHF radio and Fiber Optics projects. Will also oversee creation of a Local-Area Network (LAN) in the General Office and adjoining areas.

  They also need a Railroad Staff Coordinator and a Railway Engineering Advisor. Time to polish off your CV? Just remember Living conditions in Baghdad are austere, and there is potential for confinement to a compound. Living conditions in the Iraqi Regions and in Afghanistan vary:

• There are photos of a ride to Basra on an IRR train on the Hobo traveler website.
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  Once again, Pepsi seems to be popular!

• A section of narrow gauge track of about 18-inch gauge is visible in a photo of Jadriya Equestrian Club, which was built for Uday Hussain at Baghdad University. The author of the Brooklyn to Baghdad website (well worth a look in itself) comments I don’t know what those tracks are, if he ever had a little railroad that went around or what.
• 2004-02-02. Iraqi Rail Officials Meet With U.S. Firms at USTDA Briefing. Reconstruction of Iraq’s railways was the focus of a U.S. business briefing held today designed to bring Iraqi railways officials together with U.S. suppliers of rail equipment and technology. The event was sponsored by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and was held at the agency’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. The event attracted participation by more than 75 U.S. business representatives. … Under the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 108-106), $210 million has been allocated for the reconstruction of the Iraqi railway sector. Export opportunities for U.S. firms exist in the areas of reconstructing and upgrading rail track systems, track maintenance equipment, procuring and refurbishing rolling stock, intermodal and container handling equipment, rail control and signaling equipment, and communications and information technology.
• 2004-01-31. An interesting web site with some photos taken by Rick Degman, who is working as a railway consultant in Iraq . In addition to several photos of Iraqi passenger stock, one of
  the photos shows the front of locomotive DEM-2730 after being struck by a rocket-propelled grenade.
• 2004-01-18. Frontier spirit needed for rebuilding Iraq’s railways. … Two passenger trains leave Baghdad each morning – one for Qusayba and the other for the southern port city of Basra. Some freight has begun to move, including phosphate from a mine in the western town of Akashat. An international service leaves the northern town of Mosul for the Syrian city of Aleppo once a week, but there are no trains between Baghdad and Mosul because of security worries.
• USAID Railroads Accomplishments. The rail program, part of the Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction contract, is reconstructing and improving 72 kilometers of track in Umm Qasr port and between the port and Baghdad to improve freight transport. The track has not been upgraded since the 1950s and causes derailments, accidents, and delays to the existing rail service. Work on railways is an integrated U.S.-Iraqi effort: the Iraqi Railway Administration contributes equipment and labor, while USAID contributes project management, material, and parts.
  Explosive ordnance disposal at all 53 sites of the rail line project near Shuiaba Junction is complete, and culvert reconstruction work is underway.
• 2004-01-11. Among other things, looters have been making off with fizzy cola drinks being carried in containers on board trains which have been sabotaged!
• 2004-01-06. Bechtel Receives Iraqi Reconstruction Contract. Bechtel National Inc. has been selected as contractor for Iraq Infrastructure II, a program to rehabilitate and repair Iraq’s infrastructure, an official with the Agency for International Development said here today. Bechtel is teamed with Parsons of Pasadena, Calif., and Horne Engineering Services of Fairfax, Va., for the $1.8 billion contract. It will be implemented over 24 months in partnership with the Coalition Provisional Authority and in cooperation with Iraqi contractors, a senior USAID official told reporters in the Pentagon. This contract basically will follow the contract currently under way, officials said. It will include such major infrastructure sectors as electric power systems, municipal water and sanitation services, road networks and rail systems, selected public buildings, ports and waterways, and airports. “We are honored to have been selected to continue to help rebuild Iraq,” said Bechtel National President Tom Hash in a press release. “This award, made after an open, competitive process, demonstrates our customer’s confidence in our team’s capacity and commitment to quickly begin Iraq Infrastructure II work, while at the same time continuing work under our initial Iraq reconstruction contract.”
• 2004-01-03. Train attacked in Western Iraq. Attackers derailed a train in western Iraq, hitting it with a Rocket-Propelled Grenade, a US military statement said Saturday. “An Iraqi train en route to Babbaniyah was attacked with a Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG),” on Wednesday, the 82nd airborne division said. “The round impacted the train and disabled the vehicle,” it added. The 82nd airborne division described the attackers as “looters” and said they only stripped the train of its engine batteries.
• 2004-01-02. Task Force “All American” news release. … In 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division’s area, an Iraqi train en route to Habbaniyah was attacked with an RPG. The round impacted the locomotive and disabled the train. Soldiers from 1st Brigade responded to the attack and secured the site. When they arrived, the train was not on fire, but had been abandoned. The train was carrying concrete force protection barriers, which prevented looters from taking anything more than the engine’s batteries. The local police took control of the site yesterday evening.

• An article dated in the Independent of December 12 describes a visit to the main Baghdad station and engine sheds.
  …there have been 31 attacks on the Baghdad-Basra track in the past seven months, at least 40 on the line to Mosul, and daily sabotage on the passenger service to Qusaybah.
• 2003-12-07. The December 2003 issue of Steam Railway claims an 8F has survived in Baghdad.
• 2003-12-07. Trade Union delegation to Iraq. Visit to rail workers. A report dated 2003-10-14 A delegation of trade unionists from Britain visited the main workshops of the Railways of the Iraqi Republic in central Baghdad on Monday 6th October to meet with Iraqi railway workers who are fighting to establish an independent and democratic trade union. Some photos of staff and DEM2701, and a DEM25xx.
• 2003-12-07. Iraqi policemen inspect a freight train which derailed after an explosive device went off on Saturday evening, on the northern outsirts of Samarra, 120 miles north of Baghdad.. The photo shows DEM2719 on its side at the bottom of a low embankment.
• 2003-12-03. Bechtel’s Iraq Project Update to U.S. Congress. Rail. Detailed inspections continue on earthwork and structures construction work, as well as detailed surveys of Port of Umm Qasr track that will be rehabilitated. Subcontracts for earthwork construction, concrete structures, and general services continue to be awarded. Iraqi Republic Railways has progressed with its rolling stock repair work, as part of an integrated construction program with Bechtel.
• 2003-11-14. Syria-Iraq Railway To Resume Activity. …the Syrian and Iraqi railroad companies have reached an agreement to reactivate a weekly passenger train between the Syrian town Aleppo and the Iraqi town Mosul, for the first time since the beginning of military operations in Iraq. … the first train will depart on the evening of Friday, November 21.
• 2003-11-13. The AP report Iraqis Say Saddam Not Leading Attacks says a former Iraqi general who claims to be part of the insurgency against U.S. troops says … Their claims to be active in guerrilla operations could not be independently confirmed, but there was some indirect evidence that supported their accounts. Without providing details on a site or timing, the engineer said a bomb had been planted on a nearby railway in preparation for attacking a train; three days later, on Saturday, an explosion derailed a train causing damage but no injuries.
• 2003-11-13. US-controlled Iraq opens new rail link with Syria despite sanction campaign. The railway linking the Syrian town of Aleppo to Mosul in northern Iraq is scheduled to re-open on November 21, 2003 … The train will depart Aleppo Thursday nights and will make five stops during the 11-hour journey to Mosul, reported SANA. The 745-kilometer railway was first restored in 2000 after a decade-long interruption following Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
• 2003-11-06. Locomotive DEM-2725 derailed by sabotage near Tikrit on 5 November.
• 2003-11-05 An Iraqi rail worker and Sgt. John King, rail worker supervisor of the Army Reserve’s 757th Trans. Det. 1 (Rail) adjust rail at the Port of Umm Qasr. Det 1 is responsible for the staging of rail cars for load up of cargo, supervising Iraqi rail workers performing switching ops, and maintenance of track and locomotives. (Photo from the army website).
• 2003-10-30. …explosions Thursday that set a freight train on fire The freight train was carrying military supplies near Fallujah west of Baghdad, when an improvised bomb set four shipping containers ablaze. No casualties were reported, but the attack sparked a looting frenzy by Iraqis who carried off computers, tents, bottled water and other supplies.
• 2003-10-09. Reports of a US supply train hitting a mine and derailing. Canadian televison showed a short clip on TV of the loco on its side and some container cars derailed.
• 2003-10-04. A very interesting e-mail provides some up to date information:
  

  I have recently been out to Iraq and as an ex British Railways employee have retained an interest. … I return to Iraq on the 7th Oct. The line from Shaibah Junc (Immam Annas) to Umm Qasr is currently being cleared of UXO so that it can be doubled. The shunting yard at Umm Qasr was still out of use on my last visit Aug 2003 with derailed vehicles still in evidence. The signal box and associated yard buildings having been wrecked and looted. All the signals in the area are still in place at the time of writing. All the road crossing boxes and equipment between Umm qasr and Shaibah Junction have been looted and all the equipment stolen including the barriers, although parts of some ancient looking mechanical signaling equipment is in evidence at two locations. The Branch lines to AZP (Az Zubayer Port and the fuel tanker unload facility (called by the Brits Hectors Point) are clear and operating. There is quite a lot of traffic eminating from UQ port mainly container boxes heading all points North.

• UNJLC Iraq Fuel Bulletin no. 24 says consideration is being given to importing an average of 120 tonnes [of LPG] per day in by rail to the north, above and beyond existing trucked northern imports.… At many [oil] loading points, insufficient power limits the loading and downloading capacity for trucks and rail cars; …
• 2003-09-06. The October issue of Railway Magazine has a letter asking about Iraqi railways, and a reply based on the article in the July issue of Trains.
• 2003-09-06. Trains magazine has a letter describing the current state of Iraqi railways.
• 2003-08-20. Iraq-Syria rail links back on track. The journey from Baghdad to the Syrian border takes 15 hours and it is expected that two trains a week will run initially, reports the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association
• 2003-08-19. Bechtel describes its Iraqi rail activities.
  

  In the rail sector, rehabilitation efforts are now focused in Basrah. Rail team management has held a kickoff meeting with USAID, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Iraq Republic Railway (IRR) representatives in Basrah to present the work background, scope, division of responsibilities, and execution approach.

  USAID has approved a job order to replace 50-year-old track with 72
  kilometers (48 miles) of new track in the Port of Umm Qasr, up to the main
  line near Basrah. The work, scheduled to take one year, will be executed
  as an integrated project between Bechtel and the IRR. Iraqi contractors
  and the IRR will perform all construction work.

  A USAID/Bechtel photo showing a damage assessment of a rail line in Al Fathah. on 2003-05-27.

• 2003-08-07. TCDD to Repair Broken Railway Cars in Iraq. According to the agreement between Iraq and Turkey, the repair of Iraq’s broken railway cars are to be done by Turkish State Railways (TCDD) facilities and its sub-structures. Iraq will send a technical team to Turkey to oversee the process.
• 2003-08-07.
  There was a derailment in the port at Umm Qasr. Here are some US Army photos from a correspondent, showing a bogie flat wagon and a container which fell off. The train derailed at 17:00, but was fixed in time for the 00:15 departure.
  1. Derailment 1
  2. Derailment 2
  3. Derailment 3
  4. Derailment 4
  5. Derailment 5
• 2003-08-07
  The first train from Turkey arrived in Iraq on the 3rd August. An
  agreement between the Turkish Government and the Iraqi authorities is in
  process of being formulated to regularise this cross border service. UNJLC Iraq Bulletin No.24.
• 2003-07-31
  On the 29th July, the Iraqi railways were hit by two acts of sabotage.
  One bomb blew up the tracks 153 kms north of Baghdad while the second took
  out a section 43km south of the capital. These events occur following a
  statement from the Iraqi Railway authorities that services between Syria
  and Iraq will be resumed with the first Syrian train scheduled to arrive
  in Baghdad mid week. UNJLC Iraq Bulletin No.23.
• 2003-07-30
  Syria and Iraq re-establish rail interchange
  Syria and Iraq have resumed a railroad link between the countries, according to a report by AFP. The first freight train with interchange cars was due to arrive in the Iraqi capital today, the first service since the beginning of hostilities in March. A Turkish delegation has also been reported in discussion with Iraq about resuming rail service between those two countries. Trains newswire.
• A Syrian train crosses the border Rabiyah between the neighboring Syria as part of the resumed rail service between the two countries (includes photo of Syrian loco)
• Another photo.
• 2003-07-30
  Iraq, Syria to resume railway link. A Syrian freight train is due in Baghdad this week, the Iraqi rail company said today, marking the resumption of rail links between the two countries broken since the Iraq war was launched on March 20. … bring to Iraq several empty oil tankers held in Syria at the start of the conflict … In its current dilapidated state, the train would run twice a week and take about 15 hours to reach Baghdad from the Syrian border, he said.
• 2003-07-24
  The Coalition are operating a railway service from Umm Qasr to Baghdad and
  then onto other locations including Mosul, Al Taji and Bayji. The goal
  over the next few weeks is to operate 3 trains per day. The Iraqi
  railways currently have 35 engines in working order. UNJLC Iraq Bulletin No.22.
• 2003-07-21
  The railways system in Iraq is working at 25% capacity in relation to it’s
  pre-war levels. The majority of the activities are related to transporting
  containers for the CPA from Basrah into central Iraq. UNJLC Iraq Bulletin No.21.
• 2003-07
  The Director-General of Iranian Islamic Republic Railways, Mohammed
  Saeed-Nejad, has confirmed that RAI is studying plans for a cross-border
  rail link between Khorramshahr and the Iraqi city of Basra. Railway Gazette International, July 2003 (p421).
• 2003-06-26
  After investigating the Iraqi Railway Network, the CPA has reported that
  there are 418 serviceable rail cars. WFP experts are concerned that the
  lack of spare parts in the Iraqi railway inventory may bring the system to
  a halt in a couple of months. UNJLC was requested in facilitating letters
  of credit (LCs) to be issued for two rail contracts for the purchase of 50
  Chinese locomotives and a fourteen piece train set. UNJLC Iraq Bulletin No.18.
• 2003-06-07
  Nightmare train journey to nowhere on the ramshackle Saddam express. Another description of a trip from Baghdad to Samawah (also see the report of 2003-06-04 below), hauled by DEM2706. The rolling-stock is French, from the 1970s and falling to pieces … The crumbling industrial suburbs of Baghdad are drifting by outside – a bit like the stretch of line between Sandwell and Dudley and Birmingham New Street.
• 2003-06-04 Iraq’s Trains Are Looted, Late – But Running. Trains have been running again only for the past two weeks, but already the Iraqi Railroad company has begun daily service from Baghdad to Basra, Mosul and the Syrian border…. the 10- to 12-hour trip to Basra costs 1,000 dinars… a first-class sleeper seat is 2,000 dinars and a bus ticket is 5,000 dinars…There were only five cars on the Basra train, all of them undergoing extensive repairs as the train rolled along. … A train heading north to Baghdad was blocking the rails. The railroad workers waited about two hours and then advised those who were in a hurry, and could afford it, to seek other transportation. (includes two photos)
• 2003-05-11 ‘Secret train’ the Americans don’t seem to be asking questions about. …Seven years ago, he said, plans were drawn up to create missile launchers on rails. The idea was rejected by Saddam, who concluded that the launchers would be easy to detect by military satellite and would provide a simple target for US and British warplanes…

  …he and two of his colleagues described a train – about which they dared not speak during the Saddam years – that moved constantly around the railway system, and which they believe might have contained chemical weapons, although they admit to being unsure.

  According to Mr al-Kinani, the train first appeared around 1996. Its wagons were brown, unmarked and cylindrical. He said it usually had four or five wagons, although these were sometimes mixed with ordinary rolling stock to disguise it. Discussion of its movements, or even its existence, by rail staff was forbidden. It was usually attended by troops from the Special Republican Guard, he said. This all sounds a bit odd; maybe something has been lost in the translation?

• 2003-05-07 Train service resumes in Iraq. The first passenger train to leave Baghdad since the war pulled out Wednesday morning, and an anxious Sadak Mohammed was not about to miss it. … a 10- to 12-hour trip with at least five stops… A passenger ticket on the train costs 1,000 dinars (about 52 cents), a first-class sleeper seat is 2,000 dinars and a bus ticket is 5,000 dinars…
• 2003-04-28
  Trains roll from Mosul to Baghdad again (30K PDF). Issue 3 of The Iraqi Destiny newsletter mentions railways
• 2003-04-23
  Overview of The Basra to Umm Qasr Railway Network (34KB Word document) by the Royal Logistic Corps. The Rail-Road / Train system from Umm Qasr to Basrah, from Basrah to An Nasiriyah, and potentially from An Nasiriyah to Baghdad is as good as it was before the war and by Iraq standards the infrastructure is ready for use. The Railway system does not and has never met US or UK rail standards. Massive amounts of Food and HA shipments can be accomplished by rail. No immediate reconstruction work on the rails is required. Some minor repairs are or will be required but can be accomplished by the Iraq railway men if they have the spare parts and or tools.
• 2003-04-20 Basra rail link reopens. Today’s set piece opening saw the train go around half-an-hour down the line, stopping some way short of Basra. But Bowlt said engineers had already moved rolling stock down from Basra and had now declared the route safe to operate.
• 2003-04-19 All aboard the Basra express. The first train of post-Saddam Hussein Iraq has left the southern port of Umm Qasr on a journey to Iraq’s second city, Basra.
• 2003-04-19 Iraqi Rail Line Formally Reopens. As a British military band played “When the Saints Come Marching In,” the newly minted Umm Qasr town council cut a white ribbon and the Chinese-made engine pulled out of the port station with four passenger cars on a test run…On the railroad, Iraqi crews, working under British military supervision, repaired the line within three weeks. The original tracks were built by the British around the turn of the century [this is probably incorrect], and much of the rail line had fallen into disrepair over the past decade… “There’s been some damage from the conflict. But on the whole, the line’s pretty much intact. Most of the damage is from neglect and lack of machinery,” said Llewellyn. … Watching the landscape hurtle past, council member Mahdi recalled that the last time he rode a train was in the early ’90s, when passenger service was more rudimentary than the air-conditioned cars rolling along Saturday. Back then, carriages were without windows, doors, even cushions, he said.
• 2003-04-19 Basra rail link opens
• 2003-04-19 Train to Basra Restarts, to Be Aid Link Into Iraq. Saturday’s trial-run trip from the port near Iraq’s border with Kuwait ventured just 20 miles of the 35 miles north to Basra … For the past five years, the train service had carried only freight and no passengers.
• 2003-04-19 British forces reopen important railway in southern Iraq. An important railway line in Iraq has been reopened on Saturday, allowing the transport of aid from the southern port of Umm Qasr to Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city.
• 2003-04-09 ABCNEWS.com reports:
  Far from fighting in Baghdad and the search for banned weapons in Iraq,
  the effort to open the flow of humanitarian aid continues in the port of
  Umm Qasr. British engineers have repaired the railroad tracks, allowing
  supplies off loaded ships to be moved easier to the warehouse a mile
  away. Food, water and other items are then trucked to other northern
  points.
• 2003-04-07 Suffolk officer gets Iraq back on track. …Commander of the Bicester-based rail troop of 17 Port and Maritime Regiment, Royal Logistics Corps…has already successfully reintroduced a 3-mile rail system to transport shipments of thousands of tonnes of humanitarian aid at the port of Umm Qasr.. “we have received reports that there may be a new Chinese locomotive in the Basra area.”.
• 2003-04-07 The Hull Daily Mail reports that the 16th Air Assualt Brigade were surveying a “disused” railway linking Engabashir with Umm Qsar. Captain Finoa Steele said her priority was to get the railway… working again. She said “we have made contact to get drivers back to work. The people rely on this railway which is why we are trying to get it up and running.” This looks like the same report: Railway village delighted with water
• 2003-03-17 Iraqi dissidents turn to sabotage20 miles south of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where members of the Iraqi opposition blew up a stretch of track on the Mosul-Baghdad railway, causing the derailment of a train.

• 2002-06-16 Proposal of Damascus to activate IRAN – IRAQ – SYRIA railway
• 2002-05-19 Iranian Railways connects to Iraq Railways from Khorramshahr
• 2002-04-04 China Exports Locomotives to Iraq for First Time. The DF10FI locomotive has a capacity of 1 840 kW, and a top speed of 140 kph.
• 2002-03-26 Syria, Iraq sign transport agreement. Iraqi railways company already operates two weekly links between Aleppo and Baghdad, and Aleppo and Mossul
• 2002-02-17 Syria, Iran and Iraq Establish New Rail Link
• 2002-02 A delegation of Iraqi Transport Ministry officials was due to join Foreign Secretary Naji Sabri on a visit to Iran at the end of January to discuss proposals for construction of a Baghdad – Tehran rail link. Railway Gazette International February 2002
• 2002-01-02 India to sign MoU on railway projects with Iraq for a state-of-the-art skybus network in Baghdad and a 250-km railway line from Baghdad to Mushaba
• 2002-02-01 Railways-for-oil deal with Iraq soon

• 2001-09 Through passenger services have resumed between Iraq and Turkey. Since July a weekly train has operated between Baghdad, Mosul and the Turkish city of Mardin. Railway Gazette International September 2001.
• 2001-08 The Ministry of Railways in Iraq is reported to have received bids for a turnkey contract to build a 112km belt railway around Baghdad, based on designs prepared by Italian consultancy Sotecni.The project also includes an 11km four-track route from the belt line to Baghdad Central. Railway Gazette International August 2001.
• 2001-07-14 Iraq to resume regular train service with Turkey after 20 year break
• 2001-07-05 Railways line between Iraq, Turkey re-opened
• 2001-06-24 Iraq to resume train trips to Turkey
• 2001-05-06 Turkey reopens Iraq rail-link
• 2001-04-20 CZECHS TO SUPPLY ENGINES FOR IRAQI RAILROADS. The Diesel International (DI) company of the Czech Republic has received a contract worth 140 million crowns ($3.7 million), according to a report in the Prague newspaper Hospodarske Noviny of 10 April.
• 2001-01-04
  Iraq, Turkey to operate the railway line
• 2001-01-03
  Jordan, Iraq revive the railway line project

• 2000-10-13 Iraq ready for Turkey rail link
• 2000-09 Rail services between Iraq and Syria resumed on August 1 after a break of 19 years. Reopening of the border at El Yaroubieh and restoration of Mosul – Aleppo services followed discussions between new Syrian President Bachar el Assad and Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al Sahaf in July. Railway Gazette International September 2000.
• 2000-08-04 SYRIA-IRAQ RAIL LINK TO REOPEN. Rail service between Syria and Iraq is to resume on 11 August, AFP reported. Service was suspended in 1981.
• 2000-01-14 Severe lack of railway equipment in Iraq. An Iraqi statement issued today said that the railway system in the country suffers from a severe lack of equipment and spare parts, which negatively effects the interior transportation movement, especially transferring supplies exported to Iraq according to agreements with the UN.