Bringing mass transit to Baghdad

Now there's a scene straight out of the Westside, eh? Just kidding. The photo was taken today in Baghdad, where there's some big news on the mass transit front. The mayor of the city on Monday announced plans for a subway that would run across the city and connect Shia and Sunni areas. The project isn't exactly a go, as the Baghdad government will have to raise much of the money from private investors. Here's an excerpt from today's story in the Guardian:

In a city where raw waste often spills from an antique sewer system, where power goes off hourly, no postal service exists and where public transport has long been a fantasy, lofty ideas have recently been capturing imaginations.

On the subject of mass transit in Baghdad, I'd also like to turn your attention to a story published today in The Times about Baghdad's new commuter rail line. It's not exactly a high-tech train, as my colleagues Tina Susman and Caesar Ahmed explain:

"I'm very committed to my schedule," says Jassem, who explains the importance of timeliness: This train shares a track with the train running between Baghdad and Basra. That train is barreling toward central Baghdad as the commuter train is leaving and arrives about an hour after Salim leaves the station. Staying on schedule helps prevent collisions.

"We're coming now! Clear the way for me!" Salim yells into his radio to alert employees at the first station out of central Baghdad -- Mansour -- of his approach. As he nears the station, a shaggy black dog appears on the track, barking furiously at the oncoming engine. At the last minute, the dog darts to the side.

Salim and the others laugh. They know the dog. He's there every time.

On the left side of the track, a man faces the oncoming train, his left arm held high. One of the guards leans out the door and snatches a slip of paper from him. It's an affidavit stating that the train is running on time.

Farther along, a man in a corduroy jacket kneels at the point where two tracks meet, using a tool to adjust the rails to steer the train to the left, off the main track and onto the Dora-bound one.

You get the idea. Give the whole story a read. Besides the interesting mass transit angle, it gives you the flavor of life in Baghdad circa 2008. It also raises a question: Do you think Los Angeles will get its subway extension underway before Baghdad starts building their line?

--Steve Hymon

Top photo: Ali Yussef / AFP/Getty Images

Bottom photo: Hadi Mizban / Associated Press

Comments

[Scott Mercer]

In doing some research, I discovered that Baghdad was the highest population city in the world with no subway, I believe closely followed by Houston, if I remember correctly.

Go back to to 1990, and guess which city would have taken that prize? That's right. Los Angeles.

[lsm]

Civic pride makes me hope we start and complete our subway extension first. Concern for our lives makes me pray we insist on higher safety standards for Metrolink trains sharing tracks than Baghdad's new commuter line currently enjoys. Perhaps we can someday proudly unfurl banners proclaiming, "We topped Baghdad!"