Middle East > Lebanon > Lebanese Railways: Searching for a Locomotive

Lebanon: Lebanese Railways: Searching for a Locomotive

2013/05/16

The appointment a few months formerly of a new director general for the Railway and Public Transportation Authority, Ziad Nasr, raised additional than a few eyebrows. Since the railways were closed in 1976 during the civil war, the idea of a passenger or freight train network in Lebanon seems but a fantasy to most, and public sentiment toward the authority, which still employs 350 workers, is generally somewhat negative at the same time as it is hard to see its existence justified.

In fact, the authority as well runs the bus network and over 120 of its employees are bus drivers and inspectors. An extra 20 work in government for the authority. The majority of the others, a lot of men who were in years gone by train drivers and mechanics, are presently employed to guard the 60 disused stations dotted along the country’s three defunct lines, protecting them from thieves and property developers. Over 90,000 hectares of land belongs to the Railway Authority as does a wealth of rails, locomotives, wagons, and amount manner of equipment in varying states of disrepair, amount of which require full-time staff to stop them from deteriorating.

Over 90,000 hectares of land belongs to the Railway Authority as does a wealth of rails, locomotives, wagons, and amount manner of equipment in varying states of disrepair.Lebanon’s railway has a rich and illustrious heritage. The tracks were laid at the same time as the country was under Ottoman policy. The empire granted a French company a concession to build the prime railway from Beirut to Damascus through Riyaq in the Bekaa valley in 1891. In 1895 the prime train journeyed from Beirut and work on the coastal railway that connected Tripoli to Aleppo in Syria was running by 1911. A third line was later built between Riyaq and Baalbek.
To visit Riyaq train station presently feels like stepping into a post-apocalyptic, uninhabited world. Built part the valley’s fields in the 1890s, the abandoned station has been blank since the civil war; held in stasis with only time, rust, and wildlife at work.

Giant steam engines rot in their tracks which have long since been overgrown with grass. Derelict depots are full of the lined-up rusting mechanical beasts, a lot of of which have trees and wildflowers growing through their blank cabins. Freight cars stand linked up, motionless and blank. A lone passenger carriage stands a little further away, gutted of its seats and floor and bearing several generations worth of graffiti.

Riyaq was a vital organ of the rail network as it was as well a train factory. The old furnaces are still in their places inclunding extraordinary machines of cogs and wheels that used to build the engines and to convert them from steam-power to fuel. The enormous hangars have lost large parts of their roofs, the tiles lay scattered and broken on the floor, bearing the name of a company in Marseilles.

Despite the romance and aching beauty of the silent spot, it holds an eeriness and somber sadness. The station closed officially in 1976 and was occupied by the Syrian army between that year and 2005. Since they evacuated, the sprawling site and its contents have been closed off and left to rot.

The Lebanese NGO Train Train has for the last eight years been working to not only preserve the railway heritage but to put pressure on the authorities to reinstate the railways as a mode of transportation. The organization, founded by documentary-maker Elias Maalouf, includes engineers, urban planners, train enthusiasts, and members of the public who firmly believe in the enormous benefits the railways could bring to modern Lebanon.

One of the group’s projects that the authorities have not permitted was a plan to turn Riyaq into a railway museum, celebrating the history of the once pulsing heart of activity and industry that connected swathes of the continent with even further reaches. Maalouf, who grew up in Riyaq, said, “A museum would be inspirational. It would be a reminder that 125 years ago Lebanon had the best transportation system in the Middle East; we again had something that each country is the world is presently looking for: sustainable transport.”

Train Train’s major objective is to see Lebanon served with a network of passenger and freight trains. They coordinate their activities with other like-minded organizations in the National Coalition for Sustainable Transport, which for the completed three years has been actively pushing for development in amount aspects of transport, from sidewalks to bike lanes and bus routes.

There is a long history of attempts from various parties to reinvigorate the rail network. In 1991, at the same time as the civil war ended, the Railway Authority repaired the track between Beirut and Jbeil, christening the route the Peace Train. However, with only one track functioning and no proper intersections with the roads, the project was short-lived.

It did, however, pave the way for critical studies to be undertaken in 1995 into the feasibility of reopening the railways. Next studies were completed, the option of reworking the lines was met with a resounding “no” at the same time as parliament voted on the issue.

Authority over the rail network is a confusing arena, with several bodies exerting some power, inclunding a board of trustees that includes government officials and private shareholders. Again, in 2002 a bilateral agreement was reached between Lebanon and Syria to revive the railways that once connected the nations. Syria completed the design aspect and the Lebanese Railway Authority purchased tracks and equipment. The plan was at no time implemented, with a lack of funds being cited as the cause. The purchased rails are currently lying redundant in storage in Tripoli.
Authority over the rail network is a confusing arena, with several bodies exerting some power, inclunding a board of trustees that includes government officials and private shareholders. Lines are as well hazy as to the jurisdiction of the Land and Maritime Transport Authority and the Railway and Public Transportation Authority.

Complexities extend further still. Transport engineer and longtime consultant Tammam Nakkash explains that “public transport is under the jurisdiction of the transport ministry but the necessary link does not exist to translate their authority into action at the municipal level.”

Nakkash was of the belief that a railway would offer a viable solution to alleviating public transport problems, inclunding playing a vital role in Lebanon’s import and export sector, but felt that plans were not near moving completed the discussion phase any time any minute at this time.

Train Train are feeling additional confident. Next their prime conference with Nasr last week, Maalouf said that the Railway Authority's new director general is enthusiastic about reform, though is aware of the gargantuan task ahead. Refreshingly, he is welcome to the role civil society groups can play in pushing for evolution in the transportation sector.

Next years of bad experiences with the previous establishment, Maalouf said, “Hopefully presently the authorities have realized that they need the railways and this is why they have brought in someone like Nasr. Who knows, maybe 2013 will see a train will cross the Mar Mikhael bridge again.”

Related Articles
  • Lebanese economy beats the odds and proves resilience

    2016/02/03 Dr Alain Hakim, Lebanon’s Minister of Economy and Trade, casts aside some of the misconceptions held in certain parts of the international community and reveals the authentic nature of doing business in Lebanon and what the country and its people have to offer, based on not only opinions but as well facts.
  • Lebanon cabinet meets under pressure from trash demos

    2015/08/26 Lebanon's cabinet met Tuesday to discuss the country's waste crisis next weekend protests that began in response to the problem of uncollected trash evolved into calls for the government's resignation. The cabinet conference is the initial since the demonstrations that brought thousands of people into central Beirut to decry government impotence. The session, headed by Prime Minister Tammam Salam, is intended to discuss awarding new contracts for rubbish collection across the country, inclunding in the capital and its surroundings.
  • Ecotourism attract visitors to Lebanon,Lebanese people to discover their own country

    2015/08/09 In February, the Ministry of Tourism launched a five-year plan to develop rural tourism in Lebanon, using a wide definition of ecotourism that covers religious, regional, agricultural, sports and traditional food tourism. In the '90s, ecotourism was the initiative of small groups and nongovernmental organizations — such as Arcenciel and T.E.R.R.E. Liban — sharing their passion for the environment with local and international visitors. Tourism in Lebanon, since the 2006 war with Israel, has been through ups and downs, between a record 361,934 arrivals in July 2010 and the first-quarter 2014 drop with only 229,252, according to the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Administration of Statistics. According to Executive Magazine’s May 2014 report, “Lebanon needs a bold new beginning in the tourism sector.” The International Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people and involves interpretation and education."
  • The 6th Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum to be Held in Beijing

    2015/07/10 Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei announced at the press conference: Upon agreement of China and the League of Arab States, the 6th ministerial conference of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum will be held in Beijing on June 5. Foreign ministers or representatives from China and Arab states inclunding the Secretary-General of the Arab League will attend the conference.
  • Saudi king, most Gulf leaders to skip landmark US summit

    2015/05/13 Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and leaders from three other Gulf states have cancelled plans to attend a landmark US-Gulf summit hosted by President Barack Obama this week amid persistent concerns in the region over US nuclear talks with Iran. Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced that newly named Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef would represent the world's top oil exporter at the summit, which US sources say will focus on military cooperation. The king’s son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will as well attend.