The Baghdad–Basra rail line is a railway line that operates since 2014 between the cities of

Baghdad 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. I ...

and

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

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 ...

. The line is roughly long, with intermediate cities including Karbala,

Musayyib Musayyib ( ar, المسيب) is an increasing majority Shia Arab town in the Babil Province, Iraq. As of 2018, its population was 57,300. Musayyib sits on both the east and west banks of the Euphrates River, which splits into the Hindiya and Hill ...

Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...

, and

Samawah , nickname = Samawa , settlement_type = City , motto = , image_skyline = مدينة السماوة.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Samawah , image_flag = , fl ...

. The line was planned to be high-speed, allowing a top speed of , but operates at a lower speed. There is one train service per day, taking 10–12 hours, in each direction. Both are at night. The trains are new, and made in China. The line was first announced by Thierry Mariani, a French junior transport minister, at the 2011

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (french: Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace de Paris-Le Bourget, Salon du Bourget) is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France. Organized by the French ...

on 24 June 2011. He said that French company Alstom and the Iraqi government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding a contract to build the proposed line. Alstom will conduct exclusive talks with the Iraqi government for a year. During the announcement of the deal, Mariani also said that he planned to travel to Iraq to discuss the project later in the year. According to an Alstom spokesperson, the company planned to seek a contract that would cover the design, construction and operation of the line.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baghdad-Basra high-speed rail line Rail transport in Iraq Alstom