Baghdad commuter rail skirts traffic, checkpoints

BAGHDAD (AP) - Baghdad commuters have a new way to bypass the city's checkpoints and congested, dusty streets with the launch of a commuter rail that travels 15 miles through Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods in the heart of the capital.
The new service, which began Wednesday and costs the equivalent of 80 cents, comes as public irritation is mounting over traffic congestion - a result of better security but also caused by numerous police checkpoints that help stop bombers but also slow down cars and trucks.

"We have launched this train to ease congestion and traffic jams on Baghdad's streets," said Abdul-Ameer Hamoud, the director of central transport. "The arrival of a passenger by train is faster than by car to and from the center of Baghdad."

Starting in the morning, the commuter train pulls out of the Baghdad's blue-domed main station and runs north to the mostly Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah, then cuts down through central Baghdad to the mainly Sunni suburb of Yousifiyah in the south. It makes a handful of stops.

Still, transport officials say they are unsure just how popular the new service will be as Iraqis adjust to the idea of rail travel in Baghdad, and it may face an uphill struggle in winning passengers.

AP Television News footage showed only a small number of people riding the train Thursday morning.

At the moment, the only major rail line in the country runs from Baghdad to the southern city of Basra.

Last September, rail officials put Saddam Hussein's private luxury train - complete with chandeliers and Italian-made curtains - into public service to help ease Iraq's train shortage.
MyWay