'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎372v] (747/862)

580 COMMUNICATIONS
obtained by the German-controlled Anatolian Railway in 1902.
During the War of 1914-1918 urgent construction was undertaken to
solve transport difficulties; but the course of the campaign, the lack of
reserve material in India, and the acute shortage of ocean-going
vessels to bring rolling-stock from England prevented a co-ordinated
railway programme from being carried out. The lines built during the
war may be summarized as follows:
(a) Basra-Nasiriya. This metre-gauge line, 133 miles long, was
sanctioned in April 1916 and completed on 29 December the same
year with second-hand material from India. It was originally designed
to control the Muntafiq tribes and to assist in collecting and transport
ing rice from the Muntafiq region, but has since been incorporated in
the main line from Basra to Baghdad (p. 591).
(b) Basra-Qurna-Amara. The line from Qurna to Amara, gauge
2 ft. 6 in., was sanctioned in May 1916, completed in November 1916,
dismantled almost at once, and replaced by a metre-gauge track in
April 1917. Its length was about 67 miles. The metre-gauge section
from Basra to Qurna was not finished until September 1917 because
of the difficulty of bridging the tidal outlet of the Euphrates at
Qarmat Ali. A floating-bridge on dredger pontoons was eventually
installed, but was not altogether satisfactory and it was dismantled,
the pontoons being then used for the South Bridge at Baghdad. The
Basra-Amara line served its purpose in increasing the transport of
supplies from Basra, Maqil, and the new port at Nahr Umr, 12 miles
below Qurna, over a section of the Tigris where navigation was
extremely difficult because of ‘the Narrows’ (p. 560).
(c) Shaikh Saad-Sinn-Atab. This local military supply line,
gauge 2 ft. 6 in., was begun in May 1916 and extended to the Shatt al
Gharraf during the winter operations before Kut al Imara (fig. 58).
It was dismantled in 1917, the track being immediately relaid for
temporary use between Baghdad and Baquba, length about 35 miles.
(d) Kut-Baghdad. This metre-gauge line, 104 miles long, was
begun in May 1917 and completed during the year. It was designed
to increase the transport of supplies to Baghdad because of the
difficult navigation and long slow journey by river between the two
towns, especially during the low-water season.
(e) Baghdad-Baquba-Table Mountain (now Mansur). The metre-
gauge line to Baquba replaced in November 1917 the temporary
narrow-gauge (2 ft. 6 in.) line mentioned above. It was extended by a
similar narrow-gauge track to Table Mountain, but this also was
replaced by metre-gauge when material became available in 1918. Its