Syrian Railways

Chemins de Fer Syriens
Modern CFS passenger train, hauled by General Electric Class U17C, north of Aleppo on the former Baghdad Railway
Locale	Syria
Dates of operation	1956–2012[1]
Predecessor	Damas, Hamah et Prolongements Hejaz railway
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Length	2,423 km
Headquarters	Aleppo
Website	http://wayback.archive.org/*/http://www.cfssyria.org/

General Establishment of Syrian Railways^[2] (Arabic: المؤسسة العامة للخطوط الحديدية‎,^[3] French: Chemins de Fer Syriens, CFS) is the national railway operator for the state of Syria, subordinate to the Ministry of Transportation.^[4] It was established in 1956 and is headquartered in Aleppo.^[5][6]

History

The first railway in Syria opened when the country was part of the Ottoman Empire, with the 1,050 mm (3 ft 5 ¹¹⁄₃₂ in) gauge line from Damascus to the port city of Beirut in present day Lebanon opened in 1895. The famous Hejaz railway opened in 1908 between Damascus and Medina in present day Saudi Arabia also used 1,050 mm (3 ft 5 ¹¹⁄₃₂ in) gauge. Railways after this point were built to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge, including the Baghdad Railway.^[7] The French wanted an extension of the standard gauge railway to connect with the Palestine Railways and so agreed the building of a branch line to Tripoli, Lebanon, operated by Société Ottomane du Chemin de fer Damas-Hama et prolongements, also known as DHP.^[8]

The Baghdad Railway had progressed as far as Aleppo by 1912, with the branch to Tripoli complete, by the start of World War I; and onwards to Nusaybin by October 1918. The Turks, who sided with Germany and the Central Powers, decided to recover the infrastructure south of Aleppo to the Lebanon in 1917. The Baghdad Railway created opportunity and problems for both sides, being unfinished but running just south of the then defined Syrian/Turkish border.^[8]

Post war, the border was redrawn, and the railway was now north of the border. DHP reinstated the Tripoli line by 1921. From 1922 the Baghdad Railway was worked in succession by two French companies, who were liquidated in 1933 when the border was again redrawn, placing the Baghdad Railway section again in Syrian control. Lignes Syriennes de Baghdad (LSB) took over operations, a subsidiary of DHP.^[8]

The next big developments in Syrian railways were due to the political manoeuvering leading up to and during World War II. As Turkey had sided with Germany in World War One, the Allies were concerned with poor transport in the area, and their ability to bring force on the Turks. Having built railways extensions in both the Eastern and Western deserts of Egypt, they initially operated services via the Hejaz Railway, but were frustrated by the need to transload goods due to the gauge break. They surveyed a route from Haifa to Rayak in 1941, but decided there were too many construction difficulties. The standard gauge line from Beirut to Haifa was eventually built by Commonwealth military engineers from South Africa and Oceania during WWII, in part supplied by a 1,050 mm (3 ft 5 ¹¹⁄₃₂ in) gauge railway to access materials.^[8] Eventually Turkey remained neutral and refused the Allies access to their jointly controlled sections of the Baghdad Railway, although by then the Allies had driven the Palestine Railway through to Al Akkari, Homs, Hama and onward to connect with the Baghdad Railway at Aleppo.^[8]

Locomotives servicing the Allied war effort included the British R.A. Riddles designed WD Austerity 2-10-0, four of which post war went into Syrian service, designed CFS Class 150.6.^[9][10]

In 1956, all railways in Syria were nationalised, and reorganised as CF Syriennes (CFS) from 1 January 1965. Expanded with monetary and industrial assistance from the USSR, the agreement covered the joint industrial development of the country. Covering the development of the ports of Tartus and Latakia, they were initially connected by rail to Al Akkari and Aleppo in 1968 and 1975 respectively. An irrigation project on the Euphrates, resulting in the construction of the Tabqa Dam, drove the connection of Aleppo to Al-Thawrah (1968), Ar-Raqqah (1972) Deir ez Zor (1973), reaching the old Baghdad Railway at Al Qamishli in 1976.^[8]

Current system

Network

Chemins de Fer Syriens

Legend North to Ankara (old Baghdad Railway) East from Çobanbey to Nusaybin[11] 0.0 Border with Turkey Maydan Ikbis Al Qamishli Aleppo Euphrates river crossing Ar-Raqqah Deir ez-Zor Deir ez-Zor freight depot Ansari El Yarubieh (old Baghdad Railway) Abu Kemal 0.0 Border with Iraq East to Mosul Latakia Hamah Tartus Homs Al Akkari Homs freight depot 0.0 Border with Lebanon South to Beirut and Tripoli Palmyra freight only, for phosphate Damascus Kadam 0.0 Damascus al-Hijaz Qatana Sheikh Miskin Zeizoun Dera'a Suwayda (proposed) Suwayda 0.0 Border with Jordan South to Amman

Today, all 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) network and trains are operated by CfS. Using all diesel-electric powered traction, the main routes are:^[5][12]

• Damascus - Homs - Hamah - Aleppo - Maydan Ikbis (- Ankara TCDD)
• Aleppo - Latakia - Tartus - Al Akkari - Homs
• Homs - Palmyra: freight only, opened for phosphates traffic, destined for the port of Tartus, in 1980
• Line runs from the oilfields of Al Qamishli in the north to the port of Latakia (750 km)
• Al Akkari (- Tripoli CEL, out of use)
• Aleppo - Deir ez-Zor - Al-Qamishli (- Nusaybin TCDD)
• Extension from Homs southwards to Damascus (194 km) was opened in 1983
• 80 km (50 mi) Tartus-Latakia line in 1992
• Al Qamishli - El Yarubieh (- IRR Iraq, out of use)
• Damascus - Sheikh Miskin - Dera: under construction, to replace section of Hejaz railway
• Sheikh Miskin - Suwayda (under construction)
• Palmyra - Deir ez-Zor - Abu Kemal (- IRR Iraq) (planned)

2014

Proposed connection with Iraq between Dayr az Zawr and Al’Qa’im ^[13]

Trackage

• total: 2,750 km (1,710 mi)
• standard gauge: 2,423 km (1,506 mi) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) gauge
• narrow gauge: 327 km (203 mi) 1,050 mm (3 ft 5 ¹¹⁄₃₂ in) gauge (2000) Chemin de Fer de Hedjaz Syrie

Operations

The network is operated using wholly diesel-electric traction. For operational purposes CFS is divided into three regions: Central, Eastern and Northern. At the end of 2004 CFS employed around 12,400 staff.

The railway operates well, but as it is maintained at a low level, the top speed is limited. On a 30 km (19 mi) section of the Damascus - Aleppo, speeds reach 120 km/h (75 mph), but most of the track has a limit of 110 km/h (68 mph). Most tracks of the CFS are limited to 80 km/h (50 mph). Operational train speed is also limited by a lack of interlocked signalling, with most of the system operating on a token based system. At present, Damascus's al-Hijaz railway station, which lies in the city centre, is closed, and the railway connections with other cities take place in the suburb station of Kadam.

The result is that most passenger traffic has moved to air-conditioned coaches, and the freight traffic dominates the operational trackage. The 2005 introduction of South Korean-built DMUs, where drivers were trained using a simulator,^[14] on the Damascus - Aleppo route, and the high traffic Aleppo - Latakia route where intermediate stations are bypassed, have created a high usage and occupancy levels.

The only international connection is with Turkey. The link with Iraq, severed in the war of 2003, was restored for a time but closed again; it was scheduled to reopen in June 2009.^[15] In 2008 it was proposed to open a joint rolling stock factory with Turkish State Railways at Aleppo^[16]

The only remaining section of narrow gauge line, running from a point on the outskirts of Damascus into Jordan, is operated by Jordan Hejaz Railways.

Rolling stock

Current

Motive power

The motive power in 2007 was noted as:^[17]

Class	Image	Axle Formula	Number	Year in Service	Power [kW]	Max.Speed [km/h]	Traction Type*	Notes
unkn								Steam locomotive in Bosra
LDE-650		Bo-Bo	9	1968	478		DE	Shunting locomotives built in France
LDE-1200		Co-Co	11	1973	883	100	DE	TEM2 Shunting locomotives built in Russia, 346 kN tractive effort
LDE-1500		Co-Co	25	1982	1102		DE	Czechoslovakia, similar to CD(CZ) ČSD Class T 669.0
LDE-1800		Co-Co	26	1976	1323		DE	American built General Electric U17C export model. 30 originally built in 2 batches
LDE-2800		Co-Co	77	1982	2058	100	DE	Russian TE114, 110 originally built. Partly modernised by General Electric in 2000 by fitting 12cyclinder GE FDL of 3000 hp[18]
LDE-3200		Co-Co	30	1999	2400	120	DE	Alstom DE32CAC diesel locomotives, engines by Ruston 3,200 hp (2,400 kW).[19][20]
DMU-5			10	2006	1680	120/160	DH	Multiple unit from Hyundai Rotem, Korea for Aleppo-Damascus/Latakia long-distance services. 222 second class, 61 first class
* DH = Diesel-hydraulic, DE = Diesel-electric

Passenger vehicles

The railway possessed:^[17]

• Passenger carriages: almost all OSShD-Y obtained mainly from the former Deutsche Reichsbahn of German Democratic Republic, the newest of which were obtained from Căile Ferate Române of Romania and Polish State Railways. The stock of 483 carriages includes: 19 restaurant, 45 sleepers and 33 baggage vans. In 2001, Iranian company Wagon Pars refurbished some stock which is still in use, while the remaining unused stock lie rotting in sidings.

Class	Image	Number	Year in Service	Notes
Type Y[21]		358	1982-'83	Original built for Damascus - Homs-line by VEB Bautzen. Delivered in orange-cream Städteexpress-livery

Freight wagons

• Goods wagons: freight trains are organised into block workings, covering shipments of: oil, natural gas, phosphates, grain, cement, containers, construction materials and other transports. Most of 4319 vehicles were built between 1960–1975, with the most modern stock the grain wagons imported from Iran in the early 1990s. Approximate figures for stock:
  • 1294 Heavy Flat wagons
  • 846 Open wagons
  • 818 Oil tankers
  • 762 Covered wagons
  • 597 Grain wagons
  • 323 Phosphate wagons
  • 178 Sliding wall wagons
  • 146 Self unloading wagons
  • 53 Flat wagons
  • 50 Natural gas tankers
  • 45 Cement wagons
  • 20 Water tankers
  • 19 Tippers

Retired

Class	Image	Axle Formula	Number	Year in Service	Power [kW]	Max.Speed [km/h]	Traction Type*	Notes
De Dion Bouton		railcar			1930			Built for Hejaz Railway
Ganz/MAVAG R12		railcar

Future

Modernisation of the Syrian rail network has been identified as a priority by the government. In 2003 it planned to invest EUR9 billion in the system, with EUR12 billion annually to be spent in succeeding years. The longer term development of the network up to 2020 has been the subject of studies undertaken with the help of the Japanese consultancy, Jaika. Proposals include the construction of new lines for speeds of up to 250 km/h to Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Restructuring of CFS is foreseen, with the state assuming responsibility for infrastructure and railway operations placed in the hands of separate independent business units.^[12]

In October 2010, CFS announced plans to set up a joint centre for rail studies, with Ferrovie dello Stato; and plans to build a rail link between Damascus and Jordan had been revived, subject to funding.^[22]

Railway links with adjacent countries

On 22 April 2005, Syria ratified the Agreement on International Railways in the Arab Mashriq, which provides for the implementation of a variety of north-south and east-west links between the states of the region, including the restoration of direct rail links between Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

• Iraq - severed 2003, at Nurabiya/Rabiya, 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in). Due to recommence operations, June 2009.^[15]
• Iraq - new link Dayr az Zawr and Al’Qa’im ^[13]
• Israel - defunct (narrow gauge) 1,050 mm (3 ft 5 ¹¹⁄₃₂ in)
• Jordan - yes, 1,050 mm (3 ft 5 ¹¹⁄₃₂ in) gauge. In 2005, work commenced to build a 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) line.^[15]
• Lebanon - defunct (standard and narrow gauge), closed mid-1970s
• Turkey - yes, at Maydan Ikbis/Islahiye & Ar Ra`i/Çobanbey & Qamishli/Nusaybin & Nusaybin/Karkamis 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in)^[23]

See also

• Arab Mashreq International Railway
• Rail transport in Lebanon
• Transport in Syria

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rail transport in Syria.

• Official CFS website
• Official CFS website
• UN Map

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