Taken for a ride in Baghdad...

The first whiff that something is amiss is when the Transport Ministry tells us the commuter train leaves at 8am – rather late in the morning for Baghdad’s only commuter service.
Knowing no different, we turn up at the main railway station in the centre of the capital, expecting to board an empty train bound for Dora, a neighbourhood in south Baghdad, to pick up commuters.
We are in for a surprise.
Scores of men, women and even the odd child pile onboard two pristine carriages, primed and ready to go from platform 6. Guards dressed immaculately in uniforms wave them through the doors.
The picture-perfect scene looks too good to be true. There is also the mystery of why commuters are so eagerly commuting in reverse, from the centre of the city to the outskirts. Further fuelling our suspicion, a local television crew is conveniently on hand to film the hustle and bustle.
A press officer at the station tells us upon arrival that the train has been laid on especially for the media. He then changes his story, after seeing our crestfallen expressions, to explain it is a later service that sometimes follows the earlier train at 6.30am.
Sceptical but playing along, I board one of the carriages with my interpreter and start asking the well turned out passengers about their journey.

Me to passenger 1: Hello there. I am a journalist from England, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?
Passenger 1 (looking a bit flustered): Um, no.
Me: Why are you on this train?
Passenger 1: Because I want to go to Basra.
Me: But this is a commuter train to Dora.
Passenger 1 (turning red): Um, er, sorry yes, I meant Dora…

I move on to another group and try again.

Me to passenger 2: Why are you on this train?
Passenger 2: I catch this service every day. It is much cheaper than a taxi.
Me: But why are you travelling out of the centre to Dora?
Passenger 2: Er because I need to go home.
Me: Come on, admit it. You work for the station.
Passenger 2 (looking embarrassed): Yes.

Adding to the snazzy show, a food and drinks trolley is on display, while a video about the Transport Ministry plays from a brand new television set hanging off one of the walls.
I disembark, unsure whether we have been deliberately set up or whether there has been some confusion at the Transport Ministry, with them presuming we would prefer to see a fake busy train than a real empty one.
As the carriages chug off (depriving the station of many of its staff) I explain to the press officer that we want to experience the genuine item not this demonstration run. He tells us to return the next morning at 5.30am.
Bleary eyed, we try again. This time the station is practically deserted in keeping with Waterloo at the very start of the day. The train also stands empty, with just a couple of tired-looking police guards, a train manager, an engineer and the driver in sight.
We climb onboard and make ourselves comfortable. At 6.30am, with a solitary toot from its horn, the train pulls away from the station.
After a few minutes one of the policemen strikes up a conversation, complaining that the commuter service is a failure and was stopped a few weeks ago because it was losing money.
“I don’t know who you talked to but now it has started again,” said Akeel Mreie, 40. He also claims that the carriages on show are nothing like the clapped out models previously used.
“Those broken coaches were bad for asthma because of the dust,” he said, adding that there had been no trolley service or even electricity onboard let alone a functioning television set.
Salim Jassim, the train manager, and Thafer Salem, the driver, also say the service has not been running for several weeks. They doubt there will be any passengers today because no one knows the train is back on.
Sure enough, no one is waiting when we pull into a market in Dora, where the train stops. There is also no obvious station, but at least a tea stand nearby offers refreshments.
Once again, I feel like we have been taken for a ride.
Back onboard, I sit with the driver who is similarly disillusioned.
“I used to love my job, riding around on the tracks. Now I am not happy because there is no business,” he said. The decrepit state of the line, which has not been repaired for years, means he has to crawl at walking pace along sections. Also, the junctions have to be operated manually with a handle by the side of the track because the electricity no longer flows.
“Our country is tired and suffering, it needs a lot of reconstruction work,” said Mr Salem, 39. “It hurts me to talk. When I tell you this I feel like crying.”
Suddenly the train comes to a halt to pick up its one and only passenger, Mariam Obeid, 39, who was alerted by her friend the police guard that the service was passing by. It is unclear whether she climbs onboard to catch up with him or because she genuinely needs a lift.
One and a half hours after leaving, we return to the main station in Baghdad to be met by Mohammad Hashem, the English-speaking station manager.
I ask him whether this train was also put on for our benefit, but he assures me that is not the case. He also denies the service was stopped for several weeks, insisting it was only suspended for a few days because of a lack of carriages. He admits, however, that the route is not very popular.
“We are thinking to stop (it),” Mr Hashem said, while hoping it keeps going. “Psychologically this train will be a comforting sight for the people.”
As we prepare to leave, the manager says the afternoon service will take commuters back to Dora at 2.30pm. Unconvinced, I send one of my staff to the station to scope it out. He arrives at 1.30pm and stands waiting. There is no train in sight. Thirty minutes later the station shuts for the day. An employee approaches to ask what he is doing.

My colleague: I am waiting for the commuter train to return home to Dora.
Employee: What train? There is no afternoon train…

[Photographs by Peter Nicholls of The Times.
Picture 1: "Commuters board the 8am train to Dora;
Picture 2: More "commuteres" climp onboard;
Picture 3: The 8am train pulls away from the station.]

Comments

[lolo]

This story made me laugh at first.
But it sounds horribly like some phoney propaganda stunt the old Iraqi government would have staged.
Old habits die hard I guess...

[Marios Patrinos]

I think this story goes to show what can be achieved with very little - it is a shame that some of the billions of dollars are not being invested in simple infrastructure projects such as the railway network in Iraq. Though, now doubt likely to become the targets of insurgents, it is something practical and visible to assist the daily lives of the Iraqis...

[KShakir]

This is indeed a sad story, but Iraq is supposed to have all this money in the bank for the countries repairs. So what is the real story? Who has taken that money? Why is everything after 6 years still in such dis array? Take some of the money if no one has stolen it and start rebuilding.

[Thana]

Thank You for bringing this great story to light. You really have courage and obviously not drinking from the same "cool aid" bottle the rest your colleagues and journalist who write BS propaganda stories about Iraq.

The question I keep asking myself when I read those stories: So what is new? Tell Mr Bush and all his cronies in the UK and the US congratulations on another fiasco for the new world order.

This story can be applied across all of Iraq service sectors, transportation, health, education, whatever , and you get the same sleazy Iraqi government gangs and crooks that stole every ounce of dignity from the Iraqi people and their generations to come. Those same gangs and their bosses have purchased personal Castles and villas and Apt buildings throughout the world with the money they stole from Iraqi reconstruction and re-building projects under the eyes of their occupiers, the US and the UK generals. If the UK /US governments has the courage, they should investigate every "new" Iraqi Government leader in power and their clans to re-coupe all their country citizens tax money that disappeared in the pockets of those gangs, unless off course some of them are also culprit!

Keep reporting the truth about Iraq from Iraq and thank you for a great Sad story.

[Sean]

I felt quite sad reading this story, why? Well, if the railway is fully refurbished and restored to use, it will unquestionably become a target for suicide bombers, so, for the forseable future, it will stay 'mothballed', despite the fact that Iraq desperately needs an efficient railway network. Of course, no such lack of funds or drive stands in the way of the new, huge, palatial American Embassy being constructed at a mind boggling cost just outside Baghdad.....