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Trains running in Iraq - if not always on schedule
Edited for brevity.Rail service is up and coming in this down and dirty city of 5 million people [Baghdad]. 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. A passenger ticket for the 10- to 12-hour trip to Basra costs 1,000 dinars (about 75 cents), a first-class sleeper seat is 2,000 dinars and a bus ticket is 5,000 dinars. "This was the first company back in operation since the war," said train engineer Jamal Abdalah, from his air-conditioned diesel-engine locomotive. It's the only air conditioning on the train. In the oven-hot passenger cars the only relief came from a window, which railroad workers removed as the train pulled out of the station. But the sand that poured in as the train barreled down the track made the air circulation a mixed blessing. Though it's been reported that the U.S. Army is helping to get the railroads running again, Abdalah gave all the credit to his co-workers. The railway workers decided to get the trains rolling again on their own, Abdalah said, using fuel that was already in storage, although there is a shortage of engine oil. They are even getting salaries from the company. Engineers get about 200,000 dinars per month, about $150. This month's Trains magazine also has some coverage on Iraqi rail. Posted by: Dar 2003-06-04 |
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