'Railways and L. of C. [Lines of Communication] Policy Mesopotamia, Vol IV' [‎92r] (183/270)

THE PIONEER MAIL.
BASRA-BAGHDAD RAILWAY.
[from ottb own correspondent.]
Baghdad, 12th November.
Basra and Baghdad are getting nearer to
one another by rail at the rate of about
miles a day; and it is expected that
metre g iuge rail connection will be establish
ed by Christmas. A public train service will
be introduced very shortly afterwards.
The line fo'lows the Euphrates route,
and may be said to consist of th ee sec
tions :—Basra to Ur Junction (130 mil°s),
Ur Junction to Hillah (164 miles), and
Hillah to Baghdad (58 miks).
Thirst section, as far as Ur Junction,
nine ^'.es from Nasiriyah is the Nasiriyah
Milit ary Rail way constructed in 1916. The
railway progressed as the Army aivanced.
Pre iminary investigations and ca'eful survey
were impossible, previous info mation
regarding the country and the location of
fresh water was scarce and somewhat
unreliable, and the only necessity was to
keep the railhead as near the fighting line as
possible. Thus it is not to be w mde^-ed
at that the alignment is not alt igether
that which would hive been adopted had
it been possible to make cireful su veys
for a commercial rail vay ; and at some
later date re-alignments, which will shorten
the line some 17 miles, will doubtless be
undertaken. This metre gauge section of
the line is laid with 751b rails and Indian
broad gauge sleepers.
The second section of the li te started
in August, 1918, discontinued in Octo l ~er
1918, and recommenced in March this
year, being laid with 501b. r ails and
metre'^iuge sleepers. The route followed
is Ur, Khidhr, Samawah, Rumaithah,
Diwaniyah, Jarbu’iysh, Hillah. The principal
bridge is across the Euphrates about a mile
above Samawah. It is a pile bridge of 13
spans of 30 ft. and a 40ft. swing span.
Other bridges are a 450ft. pile bridge
ove r the Suwair spill channel, a 56ft. b’idge
with 18ft swing span over the Shuwait,
just below Rumaithah, and a 120ft. pile
bridge with 38ft. swing span across the
Hillah Oanal at Jarbu’iyah The country tra
versed is mostly cultivated or capab'e of cul
tivation and the district populous.
The alignment in the centre of the section
differs considerably from that it had been pro
posed to adopt, when it was first ordered to
undertake construction in July, 1918, and has
involved surprisingly little earthwork, consi
dering it traverses country which is subject
to the Euphrates floods. There will, however,
he a ve r y considerable number of minor bridges
and irrigation openings on this section. The
location of this middle section of the through
railway has perhaps presented the most in
teresting problem which both the Government
\\
[December 5, 1919. December 5, 1919.]
and the railway authorities have had to
consider.
That the development of the country
would necessitate through railway connec
tion has long been recognised It had been
projected before the war to extend the
Baghdad Railway to Basra via Karbala and
Najaf, following what has come to be
known as the “ desert route ” Such a lire,
comparative’y cheap to construct, whilst
giving facilities to Karbala and Najaf,
which doubtless thev require, and wjll
be provided with as development proceeds,
would not, however, make for the develop
ment of the fertile area between Basra and
Baghdad through which the line now under
construction passes. The decision has not,
however, always rested between these two
alternatives. During the war the question
of a through route via the Tigris was on
more than one occasion mooted. This,
however, may he considered an accident of
local military conditions ; and the country
is rather to be congratulated that the mili
tary exigencies ‘did not involve the construc
tion of the Araara-Kut link during the
war, for this in all probability would have
committed it to this trunk line of railway
for some years to come. The Basra-Amara
and Kut Baghdad lines were constructed
to meet military requirements and exi
gencies, and were never portions cf any
development or commercial scheme for
an initial trunk line between Basra and
Baghdad, though they came nigh to being so
considered.
Prior to the necessity of deciding on the
exact location of the Euphrates through route,
the standard gauge Baghdad-Hillah line bad
been constructed in early 1918 to bring into
Baghdad the grain from thb Hillah district
and the country south of it. Thus, when
a final decision had to be made there existed
a standard gauge railway to Hillah
a^d a metre gauge line to Nasiriyah and
the project became the linking of these two
railways, though not necessarily their termi
nal stations. The present alignment
throughout its length was not at fPst chosen.
In was proposed to deviate between Samawah
a id Imam Hamzah via, 'Atshan Wa’ar and
Musafiyah, crossing the two branches of the
Euphrates^ the 'Atshan, 3 miles, and the
Sabil, 12 miles, from Saraawab and travers
ing the low-lying country between the two
branches of the river known as “ The Island”
which might better he styled, during the
flood season, “ The Lake A complete
survey had not been possible and the work
on this stretch was actually commenced.
The early floods of this year made
it quite clear, however, that this route would
bo a very difficult one to maintain, and it
was decided to abandon it in favour of the
present route.
The third section of the line, the Baghdad-
Hallah length, requires only to be converted
to metre gauge by the shifting of one rail, a
process which will necessitate the closing of
the line for a few days only. Tnis section i
laid with 753b. rails and Indian broad
gauge sleepers The mere linking of Ba- a
and Baghdad by rail does not, bowov* ,
solve the problem of a train service. ft ,
remains to complete the terminal facilities
at Baghdad and these are complicated by j
the fact that on the light bank Baghdad j
already served by two other gauges, th^
standard gauge (4' 8^") of the Baghdad J
railway and tbe 2' 6" gauge on the Fallujah |
branch ; whilst the river Tigris outs Baghdad
itself in two. A railway bridge connecting
the two banks is at present out of the ques
tion, but it is hoped to provide a wagon 1
ferry which will virtually result in rail eoTvj
nection between Basra and the Persian boK^ ' i
via Baghdad, for the railway on tbe left ba ]
is metre gauge.
The terminal facilities at the Basra on ; j
will in time be modified to admit of handln.u
the commercial traffic at the port mom c<-c
veniently and more cheaply, but the good'. J
terminal station will remain, where for ai.
practical purposes it now is alongside th-i 1
wharves. Trains for Bighdad or even fc
Persia, if the wagon fe.-ry is provided, wid j
be marshalled in the port within a fev >
yards of the ship’s side. Initially it is hop.
that a daily through passenger train w A
run each way between Basra an
Baghdad in 28 hours whilst the good
trains wiR be scheduled in about 48 hour ,j
Liter as the liae consolidates there sho tU
be considerable improvement in the passenger
timings down to say a 12 hour or less, bu
for this modern bogie rolling-stock, now
under consideration for provision, and some j
passenger engines will be required
The goods capacity of the line will be i
ample to meet all present requirements. 1
For the purposes of working, the through
line will be divided into three sections.— i
Basra to Ur and Nasiriyah, Ur to Diw.:
niyah, and Diwaniyah to Baghdad ; engine
changing stations and railway colonies being
established at Ur and Diwaniyah.
At these places, and also at Samawahf
and Hillah, it is proposed to provide
some accommodation for the refreshment of,
passengers.