Rail arrived in Lebanon during the final days of the Ottomans. The dying empire, described in European circles as the sick man of Europe, was still capable of taking on large scale projects.
The construction of the railways was linked to greater concerns in the region, such as cementing Ottoman authority, satisfying the demands of wheat merchants, and competition between the French and British in the area.
Thus, a French company was sold the concession to build the Beirut-Damascus railway in 1891. Construction was completed in the mid 1890s.
Huran wheat, previously known for its high quality on the world market, had been losing export value against other wheat in the world. Thus the rail line was expanded to become Beirut-Damascus-Huran. The Huran merchants had expected that the new railway would open both local and international markets for their wheat. However, what actually ended up happening was a flood of wheat in the region, lowering prices even more.
The first major incident on the lines occurred in 1904 as part of the train exploded east of Aley. Brakes were not properly applied after the incident, allowing the train to crash back into the station, killing 8 and injuring 21.
At the same time, rail was expanding on the coast, connecting Beirut to Maameltein and expanding in Tripoli.
As the first world war erupted, Ottoman authorities nationalized all rail in the country. The rail line to Huran was removed and used to connect existing rail lines to the Suez Canal. After the war, the Ottoman empire would collapse and Lebanon’s railways, like the entire country, would fall under the grips of the French mandate.
