Aboard The Baghdad Express

CBS Evening News: Commuter Train Eases Its Way Into Everyday Life Of War-Torn City

(CBS)  Well before sunrise, engineer Akeel Hamid warms up his diesel locomotive.

And, with a police guard, eases Baghdad's only commuter train toward the suburbs.

It's such a basic service, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, with basic traffic control, and a drive-by grab for a chit to show Hamid is on time and on track.

As the train rolls on, he's optimistic that more people will eventually choose to travel by rail through Baghdad's chaotic urban sprawl.

"We only got the run going six weeks ago," Hamid said through a translator. "Little by little, the passenger traffic is building."

But at the end of the track the train is parked at last in the suburbs on a sorry siding with no platform.

Most commuters simply walk past the train toward the minibuses next door.

Maybe they're put off by the makeshift boarding platform: a rock.

On the return journey to Baghdad, there are still more empty seats than passengers.

But conductor Zaidan Khalaf, collecting a 40-cent fare for the one-hour journey, isn't discouraged.

"People just don't trust the train yet," he said. "All the recent violence has left them afraid."

Palmer wonders if they'd be more afraid if they could see the games of chicken that happen as cars dart in front of the train at intersections, since at every road crossing the barrier gates are stolen or smashed.

And once the train pulls into Baghdad, it arrives at platform No. 6 roughly on time. It may not be Grand Central Station at rush hour, but it's a start.

Hundreds of travelers used to arrive on the train every day to Baghdad's once-grand station.

Now, with a major renovation underway, there are dreams of restoring it.

But the Iraqi railway's immediate ambition is modest: To keep the trains rolling, one rush hour at a time.

[thegoodtexan]

All those lives lost, money spent and the misery of millions, and they are still trying to get train service back to the way it before the US invasion. I guess we have to be thankful for the small progress we have.

[hotpaulie]

A future target of suicide bombers. Sad to say. Hope I''m wrong.

[downsteamjim]

metso: You are beginning to sound like morpho.

[intheshade-2009]

This looks like the special train that Saddam Hussein ordered from Germany. It should have many good years of useful service left.

[a_witness-2009]

metsobitso - Here is your SIGN !!

[metsobitso]

beentheir1: Only a LOSER would have to apply to the join the military when he has no other options. You were there in 03, then you should qualify for a special place in the war crimes trials.

[tommygun083]

beentheir1: You don''t seem to know what you are talking about. Follow orders like a good soldiers and leave the thinking to others. Maybe it is time you got out a found an honest way to make a living.

[miamiderick]

The military is only staying another three years so that they can clean up on stealing oil for another three years. Iraq was able to run a train service long before they were invaded. Now we claim to be doing them a big service by letting them run their own trains.

[gowens1]

Is there a seat left for Bush when he leaves the white house?

[runningralph]

I don''t know where you get your info from but you are wrong on all counts.

[metsobitso]

downsteamjim: I see your still recycling that down stream lemonade. Must be clouding your mind.

[downsteamjim]

metsobitso: I like your name, but nutsobitchso would be more accurate.

[metsobitso]

mgeorge113 - Stop politicizing the issue and just hope the trains keep rolling.. If you don%u2019t have decent manners, I%u2019ll teach you some. Don%u2019t tell me what to do or what to think. It was the US military that completely destroyed Iraq%u2019s info structure. They bombed the power plants, telephone switching stations, water purification stations and every vital service that the Iraqi people needed to sustain a decent standard of living. They raided the banks, breaking open the vaults and taking hundreds of millions in cash. They immediately raided the oil fields shipping out the Iraqi oil, and they continue taking the oil to this day. Independent studies by international charity organisations, interviewing survivors, reviewing hospital and morgue records, and uncovering mass graves, estimated that by the end of 2006, over a million Iraqis had been murdered. Many millions more fled to surrounding countries for refuge. The trains that once ran on a regular basis before the invasion were stopped. You have the nerve to say the US Army is doing some kind of favour for Iraq. You belong in an International Tribunal for war crimes and crime against humanity.

[runningralph]

The US liberated Iraq. Most of the trouble in Iraq since has been brought on by jihadists from outside of Iraq or fights between different religious sects that believe that the way to solve idealogical differences is by killing the members of the other church. Instead of looking forward to US troops leaving, Iraq recently invited US troops to stay another 3 years. Iraq''s elected officials realize that without US troops, the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds will fall into deadly struggles.

[mgeorge113]

Metsobitso,
If by foreign armies, you mean the American Army, you are off track. The Amercian Army has provided millions of dollars of aid to rebuild Iraq, especially in infrastructure. Not only have they provided dollars, they have provided expertise in the form of civil engineering and many times, sweat equity in the form of soldiers themselves helping out on these projects. Stop politicizing the issue and just hope the trains keep rolling...

[metsobitso]

The Iraqi people have a lot to look forward once they escape their occupation by foreign armies. It is too bad they can''t sue for the damages they have suffered.