Historical Snapshot: Lebanon’s Railways After Independence
After the end of the second World War, Lebanon gained independence from France and took control of its own rail network. Taking the backseat to other forms of modernization and statebuilding, Lebanon’s golden age coincided with the start of the end of the country’s rail network.
Lebanon acquired the Tripoli-Naqoura rail line for 5 million pounds year 1946, handing management back to the French company DHP (Société Ottomane du Chemins de fer de Damas-Hamah et Prolongements) that was managing the Beirut-Damascus line and its extensions.
On June 6, 1956, Lebanon fully nationalized railways in the country, an event that coincided with Syria doing the same in its territories. By 1961, the rail networks would have gone through several reorganizations, with the state finalizing purchases from the DHP for close to 10 million Lebanese Lira.
The Railways and Public Transportation Authority would be the final form of this reorganization, lasting to this day under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.
Trains from Istanbul, connecting the much famed Orient Express to the region, continued to arrive during this era, connecting to Beirut through Aleppo in Syria.
Eventually, highways and cars would overtake Lebanon’s rail, with the state and public consciousness preferring this new trinket of modernization over the old, while airplanes and ships would muscle out trains in international travel.
(courtesy of u/scruffy1055 on Reddit.com/r/Lebanon)
But Lebanon’s trains continued to run, despite underfunding and under maintenance, until the beginning of the civil war dealt a fatal blow to their operations.
For more historical snapshots, check out the previous articles below:
