Iraq news

http://ccgi.ajg41.plus.com/

What can they do with Saddam Hussein's train, perhaps the only available rolling stock? My guess is that the rail lines are still very vulnerable to attack.

All the previous carriages (in which I travelled from Basra to Baghdad) are no longer usable.

This news item also has some interesting comments on possible rail routes in Afghanistan. Realistically, these will have to wait for a much greater degree of peace there - probably for ever.

I thought they were running a basra to the port train ?
I quess security will be paramount , but maybe if its only used by locals it wont be attacked .

A couple of days ago, I checked out a copy of Tournament of Shadows, a chronicle of geo-political struggles, what Churchill called "The Great Game", largely between Britain and Russia over Central Asia, from 1810 to the present.

The introduction makes reference to the Khyber Railway, which reportedly never got beyond 25 miles of constructon, which included 34 tunnels and over 90 bridges, but was abandoned before completiondue to the shiftig winds of global politics.

Permanent infrastructure requires stability, and as previously observed, this region is not likely to attain it ny time soon.

2nd trick op wrote:A couple of days ago, I checked out a copy of Tournament of Shadows, a chronicle of geo-political struggles, what Churchill called "The Great Game", largely between Britain and Russia over Central Asia, from 1810 to the present.

The introduction makes reference to the Khyber Railway, which reportedly never got beyond 25 miles of constructon, which included 34 tunnels and over 90 bridges, but was abandoned before completion due to the shiftig winds of global politics.

Permanent infrastructure requires stability, and as previously observed, this region is not likely to attain it ny time soon.

A complete history of the planned lines can be found in the links to this article (Afghan railways).
http://www.angelfire.com/mac/egmatthews ... istan.html
and http://www.ajg41.clara.co.uk/afghanistan.html#game

There are all sorts of technical problems. One is that Afghanistan stands between three different rail gauges: Iran (standard); Russia (5ft something) and South Asia. Which should they adopt?

David Benton wrote:I thought they were running a basra to the port train ?
I quess security will be paramount , but maybe if its only used by locals it wont be attacked .

I think the Basra to the port line was just for freight. As the British army no longer controls the port I have no idea what the situation is now.

There was a rumour that the Iraqis (under Saddam) were building a line to Kuwait, but I don't know if it was ever built.

In the short period between the end of the wear with Iran and the invasion of Kuwait I travelled from Basra to Baghdad by train. The Iraqis had booked me on a plane but I never fly if there is train underneath and insisted on taking the train.

It was an interesting journey in modern East German designed carriages with air conditioning. It was basically a couchette so I could stretch out and snooze. I was interested to see the edge of the Marshes.
One good feature was a complete lack of posters of Saddam that could be found on the roads.

i think the kyber pass railway was built and was running until recent times . Its in paul therouxs great railway bizzare .

David Benton wrote:i think the kyber pass railway was built and was running until recent times . Its in paul therouxs great railway bizzare .

The link I posted said it once had a regular fresh fruit train for British India. More recently there have been steam excursions. The situation on the frontier is difficult at present (when was it not?). Clearly this line could become active if there was an extension to Jalalabad or Kandahar. But that's not likely soon. Nobody knows what the secret of peace in Afghanistan would be. So far, endless war seems likely.