General Establishment of Syrian Railways ( ar, المؤسسة العامة للخطوط الحديدية, french: Chemins de fer syriens, CFS) is the national railway operator for the state of
Syria, subordinate to the
Ministry of Transportation
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...
. It was established in 1956 and is headquartered in
Aleppo.
Syria's rail infrastructure has been severely compromised as a result of the ongoing
conflict in the country.
History
The first railway in Syria opened when the country was part of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, with the
gauge
Gauge ( or ) may refer to:
Measurement
* Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments
* Gauge (firearms)
* Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire
** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, ...
line from
Damascus to the port city of
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
in present-day
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
opened in 1895. The
Hejaz railway opened in 1908 between Damascus and
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
in present-day
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
also used gauge. Railways after this point were built to , including the
Baghdad Railway
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
. The French wanted an extension of the standard gauge railway to connect with
Palestine Railways
{{Infobox rail
, railroad_name = Palestine Railway
, logo_filename =
, logo_size =
, system_map =
, map_caption =
, map_size =
, marks =
, image = AwmB00283.Samakh.jpg
, image_size ...
and so agreed the building of a
branch line
A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line.
Industrial spur
An industr ...
to
Tripoli, Lebanon
Tripoli ( ar, طرابلس/ ALA-LC: ''Ṭarābulus'', Lebanese Arabic: ''Ṭrablus'') is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in the country. Situated north of the capital Beirut, it is the capital of the North Gove ...
, operated by ''Société Ottomane du Chemin de fer Damas-Hama et prolongements,'' also known as DHP.
The Baghdad Railway had progressed as far as Aleppo by 1912, with the branch to Tripoli complete, by the start of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
; and onwards to
Nusaybin
Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...
by October 1918. The Turks, who sided with
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
, decided to recover the infrastructure south of Aleppo to the Lebanon in 1917. The Baghdad Railway created opportunity and problems for both sides, being unfinished but running just south of the then defined Syrian/Turkish border.
Post war, the border was redrawn, and the railway was now north of the border. DHP reinstated the Tripoli line by 1921. From 1922 the Baghdad Railway was worked in succession by two French companies, who were liquidated in 1933 when the border was again redrawn, placing the Baghdad Railway section again in Syrian control. ''Lignes Syriennes de Baghdad (LSB)'' took over operations, a subsidiary of DHP.
The next big developments in Syrian railways were due to the political manoeuvering leading up to and during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. As Turkey had sided with Germany in World War One, the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
were concerned with poor transport in the area, and their ability to bring force on the Turks.
Having built railways extensions in both the Eastern and Western deserts of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, they initially operated services via the Hejaz Railway, but were frustrated by the need to transload goods due to the
gauge break
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
. They surveyed a route from
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
to
Rayak
Rayaq - Haouch Hala ( ar, رياق), also romanized Rayak, is a Lebanese town in the Beqaa Governorate near the city of Zahlé. In the early 20th century and up to 1975 and the outbreak of the civil war, it was Lebanon's most important railway ...
in 1941, but decided there were too many construction difficulties. The standard gauge line from
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
to Haifa was eventually built by
Commonwealth military engineers from
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
and
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
during WWII, in part supplied by a gauge railway to access materials.
Ultimately, Turkey remained neutral and refused the Allies access to their jointly controlled sections of the Baghdad Railway, although by then the Allies had extended
Palestine Railways
{{Infobox rail
, railroad_name = Palestine Railway
, logo_filename =
, logo_size =
, system_map =
, map_caption =
, map_size =
, marks =
, image = AwmB00283.Samakh.jpg
, image_size ...
' line from Beirut along the Lebanese coast, crossing into Syria near
Al Akkari and from there to
Homs,
Hama and onward to connect with the Baghdad Railway at Aleppo.
Locomotives servicing the Allied war effort included the British
R.A. Riddles
Robert Arthur "Robin" Riddles, CBE, MIMechE, MinstLE (23 May 1892 – 18 June 1983) was a British locomotive engineer.
Biography LNWR and LMS
Riddles was born in 1892 and entered the Crewe Works of the London and North Western Railway as a pr ...
designed
WD Austerity 2-10-0
The War Department (WD) "Austerity" 2-10-0 is a type of heavy freight steam locomotive that was introduced during the Second World War in 1943.
Background
The Austerity 2-10-0 was based on the Austerity 2-8-0, and was designed to have intercha ...
, four of which post war went into Syrian service, designed CFS Class 150.6.
In 1956, all railways in Syria were nationalised, and reorganised as CFS (Chemins de Fer Syriens) from 1 January 1965. Expanded with monetary and industrial assistance from the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, the agreement covered the joint industrial development of the country. Covering the development of the ports of
Tartus
)
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, imagesize =
, image_caption = Tartus corniche Port of Tartus • Tartus beach and boulevard Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa • Al-Assad Stadium&n ...
and
Latakia, they were initially connected by rail to Al Akkari and Aleppo in 1968 and 1975 respectively. An
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
project on the
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...
, resulting in the construction of the
Tabqa Dam
The Tabqa Dam ( ar, سَدُّ الطَّبْقَةِ, Sadd aṭ-Ṭabqah, ku, Bendava Tebqa; syc, ܣܟܪܐ ܕܛܒܩܗ, Sekro d'Tabqa), or al-Thawra Dam as it is also named ( ar, سَدُّ الثَّوْرَةِ, Sadd aṯ-Ṯawrah, ku, Bendav ...
, drove the connection of Aleppo to
Al-Thawrah
Al-Thawrah ( ar, ٱلثَّوْرَة, aṯ-Ṯawrah), also known as Al-Tabqah ( ar, ٱلطَّبْقَة, aṭ-Ṭabqah, also ), is a city in Raqqa Governorate, Syria, approximately west of Raqqa. The name "al-Thawrah" literally means "The Revo ...
(1968),
Raqqa
Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, ...
(1972)
Deir ez Zor
, population_urban =
, population_density_urban_km2 =
, population_density_urban_sq_mi =
, population_blank1_title = Ethnicities
, population_blank1 =
, population_blank2_title = Religions
, population_blank2 =
...
(1973), reaching the old Baghdad Railway at
Al Qamishli in 1976.
File:Syria 2007 009 Train Station Hidjaz Damascus (1540388921).jpg, Hejaz Railway Station, Damascus
File:French Circassian Cavalry in Damascus, 1941.jpg, Colonel Philibert Collet's Circassian Cavalry outside the railway station at Damascus, 26 June 1941
File:Aleppo Bagdad Railway Station, cropped.jpg, Baghdad railway station
Baghdad railway station ( ur, ) is a railway station located on Hasilpur road Bahawalpur Pakistan at the elevation of 393 feet from sea level.
History
It was established in 1835.
See also
* List of railway stations in Pakistan
* Pakistan Railwa ...
in Aleppo, built in 1915
File:CFS Brücke Bagdadbahn.jpg, Bridge on the Aleppo-Latakia line
File:CFS Euphratbrücke.jpg, Bridge over the Euphrates river
File:Latakia railway station.jpg, Latakia railway station
File:216-A4 27 Deraa 20000912.jpg, Daraa railway station
File:محطة القطار-Train Main station - panoramio.jpg, Main train station, Aleppo
File:Baghdad Railway LOC 04665u.jpg, Baghdad Railway train, circa 1910
File:T E Lawrence and the Arab Revolt 1916 - 1918 Q59645.jpg, Hejaz Railway - Damascus square and pillar. The gabled building is the Hejaz Railway Line office.
Tramway
Current system
Network
Today, all network and trains are operated by CFS. Using all
diesel-electric powered traction, the main routes prior to the
Syrian Civil War were:
* Damascus - Homs - Hamah - Aleppo - Maydan Ikbis (- Ankara TCDD)
* Aleppo - Latakia - Tartus - Al Akkari - Homs
* Homs - Palmyra: freight only, opened for
phosphate
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid .
The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...
s traffic, destined for the port of
Tartus
)
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, imagesize =
, image_caption = Tartus corniche Port of Tartus • Tartus beach and boulevard Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa • Al-Assad Stadium&n ...
, in 1980
* Line runs from the oilfields of
Al Qamishli in the north to the port of
Latakia (750 km)
* Al Akkari (- Tripoli CEL, out of use)
* Aleppo - Deir ez-Zor - Al-Qamishli (- Nusaybin TCDD)
* Extension from Homs southwards to Damascus (194 km) was opened in 1983
* Tartus-
Latakia line in 1992
* Al Qamishli - Al-Yaarubiyah (- IRR Iraq, out of use)
* Damascus - Sheikh Miskin - Dera'a: under construction, to replace a section of
Hejaz railway
* Sheikh Miskin - Suwayda (under construction)
* Palmyra - Deir ez-Zor - Abu Kemal (- IRR Iraq) (planned)
Current proposals
![IR Railways](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/IR_Railways.JPG)
Prior to the war there was a proposal for a connection with
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
between
Deir ez-Zor
, population_urban =
, population_density_urban_km2 =
, population_density_urban_sq_mi =
, population_blank1_title = Ethnicities
, population_blank1 =
, population_blank2_title = Religions
, population_blank2 =
...
and
Al Qa’im.
However, all international routes operated by Syrian Railways were suspended due to the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War.
The restoration of the rail link with Iraq (
IRR) and the proposal to extend the railway from
Al-Qaim in Iraq through
Al-Bukamal
Abu Kamal ( ar, أَبُو كَمَال, ʾAbū Kamāl) or Al-Bukamal ( ar, ٱلْبُوكَمَال, al-Būkamāl) is a city on the Euphrates river in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate of eastern Syria near the border with Iraq. It is the administrati ...
in Syria to
Homs for a total distance of 270 kilometers and thence to Tartus are as of 2022 under discussion.
Trackage
These were the figures prior to the ongoing Syrian conflict:
* ''total:''
* ''standard gauge:'' gauge
* ''narrow gauge:'' gauge (2000)
Chemin de Fer de Hedjaz Syrie
Operations
![CFS-Hauptverwaltung Aleppo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/CFS-Hauptverwaltung_Aleppo.jpg)
The network is designed wholly around
diesel-electric traction. For operational purposes CFS is divided into three regions: Central, Eastern and Northern. At the end of 2004 CFS employed around 12,400 staff.
The system has a low level capacity, with top speed usually limited. A section of the Damascus - Aleppo line was designed for speeds reaching , but most of the track has a limit of . Most tracks of the CFS are limited to . Operational train speed is also limited by a lack of
interlocked signalling
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
, with most of the system operating by informal signalling. The Damascus
al-Hijaz railway station, which lies in the city centre, is no longer operational, and the railway connections with other cities depart from the
suburban station of
Qadam
Qadam ( ar, ٱلْقَدَم, al-Qadam) is a municipality and a neighborhood in the southern part of Damascus, Syria, due west of Yarmouk Camp.
History
Prior to its urbanization and integration into Damascus municipality al-Qadam was a village on ...
.
The result is that most passenger traffic has moved to air-conditioned coaches, and freight traffic dominates the operational trackage. The 2005 introduction of
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
n-built
DMUs, where drivers were trained using a
simulator
A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the s ...
, on the Damascus - Aleppo route, and the high traffic Aleppo -
Latakia route where intermediate stations are bypassed, resulted in higher usage and occupancy levels.
The only remaining section of narrow gauge line, running from a point on the outskirts of Damascus into Jordan, is operated by
Hedjaz Jordan Railway
The Hedjaz Jordan Railway is one of the two successor railways to the famous Hedjaz Railway. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1920, the Hedjaz Railway, formerly under Ottoman control, was divided into 2 railways: the Chemin de Fer de Hedjaz ...
.
International connections
The only international connection was with
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, but that link was halted due to the
Syrian Civil War. The link with
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, severed in the war of 2003, was restored for a time but closed again; there was a plan to reopen it in June 2009.
In 2008 it was proposed to open a joint rolling stock factory with
Turkish State Railways
The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible with the ownership and maintenance of railway infrastructure in Turkey ...
at
Aleppo.
Background on trains from Istanbul to Syria: A brief history of the Taurus Express:
Agatha Christie wrote the first part of her novel ''
Murder on the Orient Express
''Murder on the Orient Express'' is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. In the U ...
'' during her stay in room 203 in
Baron Hotel
Baron Hotel (also Baron's Hotel; french: Hôtel Baron or ''Le Baron''), is the oldest hotel that currently operates in Syria. It is located on Baron street in down-town Aleppo's Aziziyeh district. The Baron has sustained some civil war-relate ...
in
Aleppo.
The novel doesn't start in Istanbul, or on the Orient Express. It opens on the platform at Aleppo, next to the two blue-and-gold Wagons-Lits sleeping cars of the Taurus Express bound for Istanbul. The Taurus Express was inaugurated in February 1930 by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, the same company that operated the Orient Express and Simplon Orient Express, as a means of extending their services beyond Istanbul to the East. It ran several times a week from Istanbul Haydarpaşa station to Aleppo and Baghdad, with a weekly through sleeper to Tripoli in Lebanon. After the second world war, the Wagons-Lits company gradually withdrew and operation of the Taurus Express was taken over by the Turkish, Syrian and Iraqi state railways. Up until the late 1980s, a twice-weekly Istanbul-Baghdad service was maintained, with weekly through seating cars from Istanbul to Aleppo. For political reasons, the through service to Baghdad was suspended and the main train curtailed at Gaziantep, but the weekly through seat cars Istanbul-Aleppo were maintained. In 2001, the Aleppo portion of the Toros Express was speeded-up and given a proper Syrian sleeping-car instead of the two very basic Turkish seat cars. You could once again travel in the security and comfort of a proper sleeper from Istanbul to Syria, and it was a great way to go.
Rolling stock
Current
Motive power
The motive power in 2009 was noted as:
= Passenger vehicles
=
The railway possessed:
*
Passenger carriages: almost all
OSShD-Y
The Organization for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD or OSShD) (russian: Организация Сотрудничества Железных Дорог or ОСЖД), was established as the equivalent of the International Union of Railways (UIC) to ...
obtained mainly from the former
Deutsche Reichsbahn
The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...
of
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**G ...
, the newest of which were obtained from
Căile Ferate Române
Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) is the state railway carrier of Romania. As of 2014, the railway network of Romania consists of , of which (37.4%) are electrified. The total track length is , of which (38.5%) are electrifie ...
of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
and
Polish State Railways
(''PKP S.A.''; en, Polish State Railways, Inc.) is the dominant Rail transport operations, railway operator in Poland.
The company was founded when the former state-owned enterprise was divided into several units based on the need for separati ...
.
![CFS WR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/CFS_WR.jpg)
* The stock of 483 carriages includes: 19 restaurant, 45 sleepers and 33 baggage vans. In 2001,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian company
Wagon Pars
Wagon Pars (in Persian language, Persian: شرکت واگن پارس, ''Sherkat-e Vâgon Pars'') is an Iranian train and locomotive manufacturer established in 1974, in Arak, Iran, Arak. Products include locomotives, trains, metros, freight an ...
refurbished some stock which is still in use, while the remaining unused stock lie rotting in sidings.
= Freight wagons
=
![CFS Phosphatwagen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/CFS_Phosphatwagen.jpg)
*
Goods wagon
Goods wagons or freight wagons (North America: freight cars), also known as goods carriages, goods trucks, freight carriages or freight trucks, are unpowered railway vehicles that are used for the transportation of cargo. A variety of wagon type ...
s: freight trains are organised into block workings, covering shipments of:
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
,
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
,
phosphates
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid .
The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...
,
grain,
cement
A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...
,
containers
A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping.
Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
, construction materials and other transports. Most of 4319 vehicles were built between 1960–1975, with the most modern stock the grain wagons imported from Iran in the early 1990s. Approximate figures for stock:
** 1294
Heavy Flat wagons
** 846 Open wagons
** 818 Oil tankers
** 762 Covered wagons
** 597 Grain wagons
** 323 Phosphate wagons
** 178 Sliding wall wagons
** 146 Self unloading wagons
** 53 Flat wagons
** 50 Natural gas tankers
** 45 Cement wagons
** 20 Water tankers
** 19 Tippers
Retired
See also
*
List of town tramway systems in Asia
This is a list of Asian cities and towns that have, or once had, town tramway (urban tramway, or streetcar) systems as part of their public transport system. A separate list has been created for Japan to increase user-friendliness and reduce articl ...
*
List of countries by rail transport network size
This list of countries by rail transport network size based on International Union of Railways data ranks countries by length of rail lines worked at end of year updated with other reliable sources. These figures also include urban/suburban mass ...
*
Arab Mashreq International Railway
*
Hejaz railway
*
Hedjaz Jordan Railway
The Hedjaz Jordan Railway is one of the two successor railways to the famous Hedjaz Railway. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1920, the Hedjaz Railway, formerly under Ottoman control, was divided into 2 railways: the Chemin de Fer de Hedjaz ...
*
Damascus–Amman train
The Damascus–Amman train or Damascus–Amman railway is an international train service operating on the former Hedjaz Railway from Damascus, Syria to Amman, Jordan. It is currently the only passenger train operating in Jordan. The train ope ...
*
Aleppo railway station
*
Transport in Syria Transport in Syria is possible by rail, road, air or rivers, both public and private. Syria is a developed Asian country with a well-developed rail network (2,052 km) and a highway system (782 km). Main international airport is the Damasc ...
*
Rail transport in Lebanon
Rail transport in Lebanon began in the 1890s as French projects under the Ottoman Empire but largely ceased in the 1970s owing to the country's civil war. The last remaining routes ended for economic reasons in the 1990s. At its peak Lebanon had ...
*
OTIF
References
External links
UN Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chemins De Fer Syriens
Rail transport in Syria
Railway companies of Syria
Government-owned companies of Syria
Aleppo
Standard gauge railways in Syria
1050 mm gauge railways in Syria
Ottoman railways