Picture taken from Bambi’s Soapbox
When I first read the title of this article, I checked the date to make sure it’s not an old post, then I read the whole thing 3 times just to make sure it’s not a satire post and I still can’t believe that someone, Robert Fisk in that case, would believe that “Beirut has the chance to revive its steam-age role as a key transit hub”, and that Syria’s relaunching is going to happen sometime soon and have a positive impact on Lebanon. I mean seriously? A Tunnel from Baabdat to Chtaura? A train from Beirut through the Bekaa, Syria and the Gulf and all the way to Europe? Who are we kidding here?
Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous, an Austrian politics professor at Notre Dame University in Lebanon and engineer by profession, told his Unesco audience that “railways are a regional, international issue because infrastructure development is one of the keys to the future of the Middle East”. Talking later, he was more specific. “The majority of the freight for re-launching Syria after the war will obviously go through Beirut. The Syrian port of Lattakia is too small. The reopening of the old Tripoli-Homs train line, which is still relatively intact, could be done quite quickly.
Now the funniest part is how Mr. Maalouf is “relying on the sheer frustration of the automobile-intoxicated Lebanese to bring back the trains”. Don’t get me wrong as I have the utmost respect for the Ecuador-born Lebanese filmmaker Elias Maalouf, but Lebanese have been cursing yet electing the same people for more than 20 years now, and they seem to be fine living without a president, without infrastructure, water, electricity or internet. They couldn’t care less about trains being renovated or turned into UN heritage sites and they are building houses and nightclubs all over them (unless the government paves a new road over the railway).
All in all, the poster below is the closest thing we will get to seeing trains in Lebanon again. Enjoy the [article] and keep dreaming Lebanon 🙂
thanks for sharing. i get that you think its funny and a ‘little out there’ but its good that someone thought about and then wrote about this. its a starting point to either implement a train network or to, again, confirm that we are a backward country against advancement of any sort.
lets admit it, deep down we love corruption
Much as I agree with your sentiment, I would like for once to read a bit of positivity in the Lebanese blogosphere. I think that although the scale of a possible railway line connecting the entire region (let alone another continent as well) is to be blunt, impossible, it does not mean that we should discourage efforts to put support behind such initiatives (even if they haven’t even reached the level of “initiative” yet!)
I for one would be ecstatic if there were plans to start off a coastal railway line, even if it just links Tripoli and Homs at first. It would show resolve and promise to build one that could some day encompass Lebanon and Syria, a feat to be proud of.
Eric,
I’m sorry but this has nothing to do with being positive. I make it one of my goals to spread a bit of positivity throughout my blog posts but believing that Lebanon will become a railway powerhouse is delusional. There’s nothing to back this claim and there are no plans to make it happen.
You are talking about a railway that links Tripoli to Homs while Syria is at war and half its population are refugees abroad? There are so many things to consider here, from the budget needed to the corruption among officials, to the state of the roads and the need to demolish illegal properties, to agreeing with the Syrian government (which government?).
Let’s talk about setting up railways between Beirut and Jounieh before dreaming about Lebanon as a regional railway powerhouse!
You’re absolutely right of course, I do find issue with the fact that it could be a “powerhouse”, far from it in fact. And perhaps extending railway into Syria is not viable, but then again I wasn’t considering it for this decade at all. Beirut to Jounieh would be a phenomenal start and perhaps a focus on realism should be applied rather than this fangled fantasy of Maalouf or Fisk or whoever. And for this reality we should perhaps be positive about.
Thanks for bringing light to this!
Fisk is an honorary Lebanese and an eternal optimist…Or he was just binge drinking. The idea/concept is good but fairy tale based on the storm brewing around and within us.
Hello!
I just want to point that the subject mentioned is a very serious plan.
I ve been in a conference in Jdeideh a week ago and Eng. Abdel Hafiz Al Kaisi- The director general of the state’s land and maritime transport authority – has explained clearly the plans done to improve the Public Transportation in Beirut, and that there’s a partnership with Trans Med the organization behind the transportation around the Meditteranean Sea in order to kick off and fund the railroad between Beirut and Tripoli.
I said “Plans”, because no serious funding is debited yet, but once we have the funding, the project will start.
But seriously the Ministry have been working hard on plans, so don’t blame the people behind(directors and consultants) because they are brilliant, blame it on the politics.