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Wednesday, June 4, 2003 Iraq's trains are looted, late -- but running BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Rail service is up and coming in this down and dirty city of 5 million people. Thair Al-Asad, a 24-year-old laborer, was glad to be on the green and yellow train when it pulled out of the crowded station at 9 a.m., about a half-hour late.
And despite the sand that coated the seats, the broken windows and the smothering heat, Al-Asad had a smile for everyone, and a frilly sundress for his 3-year-old daughter. He was riding the rails south to his home in Nasiriyah, just two hours north of the train's final stop in Basra. "I have been gone from home since March 2, looking for a job, any kind of job," Al-Asad said, his smile at odds with his plight. "There is no hope; everyone is looking for jobs." Trains have been running again only for the past two weeks, but already the Iraqi Railroad company has begun daily service from Baghdad to Basra, Mosul and the Syrian border. A passenger ticket for the 10- to 12-hour trip to Basra costs 1,000 dinars (about 75 cents), a first-class sleeper seat is 2,000 dinars and a bus ticket is 5,000 dinars. "This was the first company back in operation since the war," said train engineer Jamal Abdalah, from his air-conditioned diesel-engine locomotive. It's the only air conditioning on the train. In the oven-hot passenger cars the only relief came from a window, which railroad workers removed as the train pulled out of the station. But the sand that poured in as the train barreled down the track made the air circulation a mixed blessing.
Though it's been reported that the U.S. Army is helping to get the railroads running again, Abdalah gave all the credit to his co-workers. The railway workers decided to get the trains rolling again on their own, Abdalah said, using fuel that was already in storage, although there is a shortage of engine oil. They are even getting salaries from the company. Engineers get about 200,000 dinars per month, about $150. Abdalah, who has worked for the railroad for 30 years, said the important thing was to start returning Iraq to some sort of normalcy. "We will work without money if we have to," he said. Security was his number one concern. Workers had hooked up air conditioning units to the passenger cars for yesterday's trip to Basra, but overnight Ali Babas, as thieves are called here, sneaked into the Baghdad train yard and ripped out all the equipment. "Nothing is safe now," said Abdalah. Police are supposed to be riding the train, but none was in sight on the trip toward Basra. There were only five cars on the Basra train, all of them undergoing extensive repairs as the train rolled along. The passengers were like passengers anywhere: young and old, single men and families. The distinguishing trait for them all however was their friendliness and their poverty. And as the train rumbled along the tracks past flat plains that quickly gave way to date palms and even fields of grain, the passengers became increasingly vocal, as if getting closer to their homes in the south gave them inspiration, or at least comfort. One young man picked up an Arabic language newspaper and studied a photo of President Bush. "I love Bush," he said in Arabic, to no one in particular. When asked why, he said, "I love him because he got rid of Saddam Hussein." And what about the U.S. soldiers in Iraq? "I love them all," he said. "I am happy to have them in this country." As young boys passed down the aisle, selling bananas, ice cream and colas, another man spoke openly of his anger at Saddam. He blamed Saddam for bringing the Americans and British into Iraq. "Oh Saddam, what have you done to us?" he asked. "All the troops must leave." Mohamed Durani, a former Iraqi soldier, wanted to know when the new government in Baghdad would reactivate the Iraqi army. No one knew, but it was mentioned that news reports stated that the army would remain disbanded, and only a national police force would remain. Durani produced a faded military ID card and a crinkled photo of himself in an army uniform. There are thousands of Iraqis like him across the country, disbanded soldiers, out of work and with few prospects in a nation of 25 million people without jobs. About four hours into the trip to Basra, at the completely looted railway station outside the small town of Samayah, the journey came to an end for some of the passengers. A train heading north to Baghdad was blocking the rails. The railroad workers waited about two hours and then advised those who were in a hurry, and could afford it, to seek other transportation. A few people caught a ride into Samayah to make their way to Nasiriyah and on to Basra via rented vans. Most of the passengers remained behind, sweltering in the heat. Abdalah, the engineer, was not happy. He said it could be only a matter of hours, or it could be all night. Without any way of communicating with the other train or another train station, everyone was on their own. Kind of like Iraq. P-I IN IRAQP-I foreign desk editor Larry Johnson and photographer Dan DeLong have returned to Iraq to assess how the nation and its people are faring after the war. Watch for their reports in coming days, along with Johnson's weblog at seattlepi.com/iraq2003
This is Johnson and DeLong's second trip to Iraq -- a 1999 visit resulted in an award-winning special section called "Life and Death in Iraq." Last fall, Johnson spent two weeks there with photographer Paul Kitigaki Jr. for a series of reports on Iraq under the threat of war. Previous stories and images can be found online at the same Web address.
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