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Railways of Iraq

There doesn't seem to be much on the web about the Iraqi railway system, so I've gathered a few snippets of information and some interesting links here. There are pages covering history, locomotives & rolling stock, trams & metros, news, photos and links. These pages are, and no doubt will remain, a bit rough-and-ready, as I'll keep adding things as I find them. If you can provide additional information, news, corrections, clarifications or links, please let me know.

Thank you to the people who've sent me more information and links. There are too many of you too list individually, but thanks to everyone. I'm always happy to receive more information!

PLEASE NOTE: These webpages are completely unofficial, and don't represent the views of anyone or any organisation, anywhere. I have no links to Iraq, its government or any companies out there. Feel free to get in touch if you can offer more information, news or links about railways, but please note I can't arrange contracts or advise on local business partners &c &c !!

I also have some webpages on the history of the railways of Afghanistan (yes, there are some!), and links to other middle eastern railway websites.

Maps

A map from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection of the General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin. I've highlighted the approximate course of the railways I know about. Don't plan your trainspotting holiday based on it, though!
Large version of map.

The detailed map of the Iraqi railway network (PDF, 713KB) from the United Nations Joint Logistsics Centre (used with permission).

There are lots of maps of Iraq at the General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin, website, including one of Baghdad in 1944, showing railways and a train ferry, and one showing railway routes, as does this one
The UIC's middle east railways website doesn't have much you can read without being a member, but there is a map of IRR
A satellite photograph showing Baghdad Central station
Karte der Bagdadbahn (1915)
Some more maps of Iraq. The main rail network is also visualized but stays on purpose a bit in the background. Hopefully we can add more data about more detailed rail network, airports and harbors to this section soon.

Lines

These are the lines which still (more or less) exist. There was formerly an extensive metre gauge network, which seems to have lasted until circa 1988(?) The standard gauge lines are not always on the same alignment as earlier metre-gauge routes.

Obviously transliterations of Arabic place names vary between sources, so the names mentioned might not be consistent.

Route	Length	Opened
Yurubiyah [El Yaroubieh] (on the Syrian border, on the route to Turkey) - Mosul [Al Mawsil] - Qayyarah - Baiji - Tikrit - Samarra - Baghdad	528 km	in stages 1939, 1940
Baghdad - Al Musayyib - Al Hillah - As Samawah - An Nasiriyah (for Ur, possible 30 km branch to Kut) - Al Basrah	541 km	1964-03-10 (freight) 1968-04-25 (passenger) Replaced earlier metre gauge line, not same route
Basra - Umm Qasr	68 km	1968-04-25
Baghdad - Al fallujah - Habbaniya - Al Ramadi East - Hit - Haqlaniyah - Anah - Al-Qaim - Qusaybah [Husaiba] (on the Syrian border at Abu Kamai)	516 km (376 in Cook's, 404 RGI p892 Nov 1982)	c1987
al-Qaim - Askashat (carries phosphates to Al-Qaim)		Summer 1981 (RGI Feb 1982/p638)
Haditha - Baiji - Kirkuk (Baiji oil refinery to al-Qaim fertiliser plant)	252 km	1988, $960m
Ur - Nasiriyah?		Possible branch?
Kirkuk - Arbil [Irbil]		?
Baghdad ring line	112km, 11km link to Central station	Proposed
Baghdad - Ba'qubah - (Khanaqin) - Tawuq - Kirkuk		A former metre gauge line, never rebuilt as standard

A correspondent writes (I'll incorporate this in the table when I get time!):

In Haqlaniyah the line joins the Baghdad-Al Qaim (-Abu Kamal) line (a.k.a BAARP - Baghdad - Al Qaim - Akashat - Railway Project). The village of Haditha was originally intended to be the junction with KBH, but then the design of the BAARP was changed to stop in Haqlaniyah rather than in Haditha, without changing the name of KBH, however.

The additional km of the KBH is owing to a rerouting of the Mosul - Baghdad line, which was shifted from the Al Siniyah Station to the new KBH-Baiji Station.

Further few km are east of Baiji - a siding to the Salahuddin Refinery tanker storage yard and a siding to the Baiji Vegetable Oil factory near to the Tigris river. The refinery was destroyed in the 1991 Gulf War by UN Troops. Whether or not is had been restored since, is beyond my knowledge.

This is why you may have found in some sources 292 km rather than 252 km.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Baiji on February 8 1983. Ceremonial inauguration of the KBH in the presence of the then Minister of Communication Mr Mohammed Hamza Al Zubaidi on November 7 1987 (not 1988).

Baghdad-Baquba-Kirkuk railway line. This line was taken out of service in 1987, because by opening the KBH-line Kirkuk was reached faster by using the new connection via Baiji.

Um Qasr

Map of the port at Um Qasr, showing the railways, where UNJLC says rail transport is used on regular bases to transport containers to the northern part of the country and experts will do a more complete study of the rail capacities.
A UNJLC photograph of warehouses and rail connection in Um Qasr.
A photo of a train at Um Qasr from the UNJLC.

Statistics

Railway Directory 2001 has this to say about Iraqi Republic Railways:

"Railway construction in Iraq was begun in 1912 as part of the projected Berlin - Istanbul - Baghdad Railway. The line between Baghdad and Hsaiba on the Syrian border was compled in 1983, and the Haditha - Kirkuk line opened in 1987."

Traffic - information for the year 1997
Passenger 2.8m journeys
1 169m passenger-km
Freight 2.9m tonnes freight, 956m tonne-km

Route and Rolling Stock
Gauge 1 435 mm - 2 032 km
Diesel locomotives 382
Passenger coaches 434
Freight wagons 12 445
Employees 8 300

This is what the CIA World Fact Book has to say about Iraq's railways:

Railways:
total: 2 339 km
standard gauge: 2 339 km 1.435 m gauge (2001)

Other

This aerial photo of a park in Baghdad close to the Central station (which is just out of shot to the top right) seems to show a narrow gauge(?) railway running around the perimeter. I'm not sure where the person who sent me the picture found it, or what date it is. The line is not visible on recent photos. The Restoration & Archiving Trust has some photos of a 2-8-0 at Baghdad Zoo in March 1967.

© Copyright Andrew Grantham. Last update 2005-01-25 These pages are mostly compiled from secondary sources, so I can't offer any guarantees about accuracy! Do please let me know if you can add more information.