'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎374v] (751/862)

582 COMMUNICATIONS
the main-line extension from Ur, on the Basra-Nasiriya railway,
through Samawa and Hilla to Baghdad, the last section of which
replaced the war-time standard-gauge line that had been removed.
Up till 31 March 1923 the railways were under the administration
of the British Government, which provided all funds for capital
expenditure. From that date they were administered by the Iraqi
Government, which loaned money for capital works, though they
remained the property of the British Government until after October
1935, when a preliminary agreement was reached for the transfer of
ownership. The reasons for the long delay were disagreement on the
amount to be paid for purchase and a stipulation in the Anglo-Iraqi
Treaty of July 1930 (p. 297) by which the railways should, on acquisi
tion by Iraq, be managed by a joint board of British and Iraqi
directors. Formal agreement was reached in March 1936, whereby
the Iraq State took over ownership of the railways, all material assets,
and the Reserve fund, for the almost nominal sum of £494,000. The
estimated value at that time was £2,500,000 while the constructional
costs had amounted to nearly £12 millions. To ensure efficient work
ing arrangements were made for key positions in administration to be
held by a limited number of British officials for not more than twenty
years.
At the outbreak of war in 1939 the Iraq State Railways comprised
the metre-gauge and standard-gauge sections as planned in the re
organization in the early ’twenties.
Metre-gauge Section. The metre-gauge lines were divided by the
Tigris at Baghdad into southern and northern parts. The southern
part was a single-track line from Maqil (Basra) by Ur, Samawa,
Diwaniya, and the Hilla branch of the Euphrates to Hindiya, and
thence north to its Baghdad terminus on the west bank of the Tigris.
There were small branches from Shuaiba junction to the R.A.F.
aerodrome, from Ur to Nasiriya, and from Hindiya across the barrage
to Karbala. A temporary extension to Jabal Sanam for quarrying
stone for railway ballast, concrete aggregate, and road metal, built in
the period after the Armistice was subsequently removed.
The northern line ran, and still runs, from Baghdad North station
on the eastern side of the Tigris to the Diyala and thence to Kirkuk,
with a branch from Qaraghan (later renamed Jaloula) to Khanaqin,
5 miles from the Persian boundary. The total length of the metre-
gauge sections was about 620 miles. The old second-hand stock of
rails originally brought from India during the War of 1914-1918 was
being gradually replaced by heavier track as repairs became necessary.