Now is a critical time to revive Lebanon’s train transport service

On August 4th, 1895, the very first steam train in Lebanon departed from Beirut travelling through the Bekaa Valley towards Damascus. This pivotal journey marked the beginning of the golden era of rail transport in Lebanon. Later on, as the railway networks continued to expand across the Middle East, the Lebanese could travel freely to other cities, such as Damascus, Homs, Haifa, Amman and beyond. These railways were built during the Ottoman era when borders and countries were still not demarcated, and people could make extended train journeys for travel and trade. The trains were considered engineering marvels at the time, with special gears equipped to go up and down Lebanon’s mountainous terrain. At its peak Lebanon had 408 kilometers of railway.

Rayak, which had one of the biggest trains stations, also became a strategic repair facility center known for designing and reassembling old steam engines, in particular converting the older charcoal run trains to work on fuel. Sadly, the Lebanese Civil War put an end to it and the entire rail transport in Lebanon. Today, what remains are the scattering of rusted trains and tracks and dilapidated abandoned station buildings, worthy of creating a museum not more. However, Carlos Naffah, the President of Train Train, a non-profit NGO advocating for the rehabilitation and preservation of the Lebanese Railway System, is adamant that Lebanon should revive these same train tracks and recreate a national railway service.  Naffah, a professor of public policy and crisis management who holds a PHD, and his team have been lobbying tirelessly for its recuperation. “We already have the old rail network that needs to be restored, so the hard work is pretty much done already,” claims Naffah. He believes that with the right support they can be redefined and replaced with new tracks.

The trains are not too expensive today if we are talking diesel, electric, hybrid or both. On the other hand, the track grid is expensive. We just need to revive it.

What Naffah is stressing is that Lebanon needs to act now and not remain dormant in this critical time. And why now? “According to The Syria Report, Turkey is offering to fund the reconstruction of parts of the Hijaz Railway linking Syria to Jordan and from there to further south to Aqaba and the Gulf. This railway would help Turkey bypass the Suez Canal and reach Gulf markets. If Lebanon does not do the same by rebuilding its train system all the transport benefits will go to other neighboring countries. If we don’t act now, we will lose our maritime ports to be strategic transit points for cargo,” stresses Naffah. If Beirut and Tripoli can be key transit hubs for cargo arriving or exiting by ship, Lebanon can profit immensely from port and transit fees. According to Naffah, Lebanon can be looking at profits estimated at 240 million dollars per year. Furthermore, Lebanon’s potential oil and gas production can also be transported via the railway infrastructure, bypassing highly expensive and technically complicated underwater pipelines.

The proposed plan by Train Train is to begin by installing two direct rail connections from Lebanon to Syria focusing on cargo transport as the first phase: 1) Tripoli – Akkar – Homs 2) Beirut – Damascus. This would be the initial phase, and once successful other routes can be rolled out, such as Tripoli to Beirut and other key routes which can focus on domestic commuting to alleviate traffic and reduce cars. “During morning rush hour one train can accommodate up to 3,000 passengers, and if you can provide the service every ten minutes, you can transport 30,000 people from Tripoli to Beirut in one morning, “illustrates Naffah. In terms of financing such a large-scale project Naffah explains that it can be done on a public private partnership (PPP) basis, such as through build-operate-transfer (BOT) or build-transfer-lease (BTL) with the Lebanese government not having to put up any money. In these models, the private sector is typically brought in to finance the project and gets to keep the profits for an agreed concession period. The private sector would recover its costs from ticket fares, freight charges and transit fees. After the concession period is over, the project can be transferred back to the government or continues to be in partnership between the private sector and the government.

Train Train has been lobbying tirelessly trying to galvanize the country for this important cause. Its role is strictly for advocacy and to become the watch dog once the project does come into effect to avoid any corruption. “We have been approaching the government, MPs, stakeholders, speaking to the media, and so forth. We want to see the government take on a bold and strategic step, “explains Naffah. Currently, Train Train is preparing for an important upcoming workshop in December. They are inviting stakeholders in transportation to attend workshops, and round table talks in order to produce policy papers in transportation to further support and facilitate Lebanon’s railway rehabilitation.

Naffah stresses that there is a regional momentum in the strategic cargo transport sector.

Lebanon must not be excluded. It will be a tragic missed opportunity.

“Let’s not forget that Lebanon pioneered in the region to create a a national rail service 130 years ago, back in the day when most Lebanese were farmers and shepherds. Today, with so much talented and educated Lebanese ready to serve their country, what is holding us back from not making this project a reality?” asks Naffah.