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Public Transit Returns to Baghdad

Commuter train has run for a month, mayor proposes subway system

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 18, 2008 2:10 PM CST
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(Newser) – After years of destabilizing violence, Baghdad has a commuter train again, the LA Times reports. For about a month, the “Baghdad Metro,” as employees call it, has made two complete trips around the city in the morning and afternoon for the benefit of working Iraqis who have to suffer through traffic choked by checkpoints and convoys.

The unofficial Metro is the only regular train service in Baghdad, but the city's mayor wants to change that, the Guardian reports: he announced plans yesterday for a subway network. The proposed system would have two lines crossing Baghdad, connecting neighborhoods split along sectarian lines. The mayor has opened a call for investors, and the government plans a feasibility study next year.

Iraqi train passengers leave from al-Alawi railway station, central Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.
Iraqi train passengers leave from al-Alawi railway station, central Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iraqi boys carry their belongings as they walk next to a train at al-Alawi railway station, central Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.
Iraqi boys carry their belongings as they walk next to a train at al-Alawi railway station, central Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
An Iraqi passenger carries his belongings next to a train at the al-Alawi railway station, central Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.
An Iraqi passenger carries his belongings next to a train at the al-Alawi railway station, central Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A train arrives at al-Alawi railway station, central Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.
A train arrives at al-Alawi railway station, central Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.   (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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