Liberal Talk Radio

Iraqis fall in love with the Lionel-Industrial Complex:

The service between Baghdad and Basra resumed with little fanfare in December after a hiatus of 18 months. Few dared use it at first, but word has spread of a safe and cheap journey, and railway officials are scrambling for funds for more carriages.

“There’s been a great acceptance of the service … People do not feel anxious. They’re coming with their families,” said Abdul-Ameen Mahmoud, the railway company’s head of passenger transport.

The Iraqi General Railways Company halted the service in 2006 after killings, bombings and kidnappings intensified in the infamous “Triangle of Death”, an area south of the capital through which the line passes.

Built by imperial German and British engineers in the first two decades of the 20th century in a race between Berlin and London to control the region, Iraq’s railways were once a vital link between Europe and the Middle East.

There was a great video — I think on YouTube — that I saw once of a time-lapse journey along the rail line, but I can’t find it now.