IRAQ: The World Bank has approved US$930m of financing for the Iraq Railways Extension & Modernisation project to upgrade the 1 047 km route between the southern port of Umm Qasr, Baghdad and Mosul.
The project aims to improve and augment the existing rail infrastructure to expand capacity, reduce travel times, increase freight volumes and provide improved access to sustainable transport.
Key activities include rehabilitating the existing single track where needed, installing ETCS, maintaining the locomotives and rolling stock, refurbishing the Baiji workshop, and procuring maintenance equipment and spare parts. A safety management system will be introduced, with level crossing improvements, community awareness campaigns, emergency preparedness and staff training.
The project will also include technical assistance to improve the institutional performance of Iraqi Republic Railways. The scope of this element of the work includes the development of a railway sector reform action plan, and the identification of opportunities to dispose of non-core assets and to attract private sector resources and skills including for the establishment of dry ports and logistics hubs. There will be training for IRR staff and support for female participation in the rail sector.
The project is to be implemented by IRR under the oversight of the Ministry of Transport. An international firm will be appointed to act as capital expenditure management agent.
It is envisaged that by 2037 the railway will be carrying 6·3 million tonnes/year of domestic freight and 1·1 million tonnes of exports and imports, including grain, construction materials and containerised freight, as well as 2·85 million passengers
The World Bank said the Middle East is ‘witnessing a resurgence in regional railways, bolstering trade routes within the region and with Asia and Europe to enhance connectivity and drive regional economic growth’. It said Iraq’s rail sector suffers from limited connectivity, disrepair and underfunding, and investment is an essential first step towards enhancing national and regional connectivity.
‘As Iraq shifts from reconstruction to development, enhanced trade and connectivity can stimulate growth, create jobs and reduce oil dependency’, said Jean-Christophe Carret, World Bank Middle East Division Director, after the project was approved by the board on June 24.
