Public Transportation

Historically, Lebanon possessed one of the region's most modern transportation infrastructures.

The very first railway in the Levant was built in the late 19th century by a French company “Société des Chemins de Fer Ottomans Économiques de Beyrouth-Damas Hauran” under the Ottoman empire. In 1895, the first train left Mar Mikhael railway arriving in Damascus for a 9 hours journey, stopping at Rayak Railway Station, among other stations (Damascus line)

By 1906, the Société des Chemins de fer Damas-Hama et prolongements (DHP) had built and operated another railway track connecting Rayak to Homs, Hama, and Aleppo. A standard gauge railway was established between Tripoli and Homs in 1911, and the Orient Express from Paris stopped in Istanbul in the 1930s. The Taurus Express took over from there, concluding in Tripoli. In the 1940s, the railway was extended from Tripoli via Beirut to Haifa, passing by Naqoura (NBT, Naqoura, Beirut, Tripoli line). The NBT line was ending in Furn el Chebbak as of 1948.

According to Samir Kassir, in his book "Beirut", the construction and expansion of routes along Lebanon's three main axes—the Damascus Road (east), the Tripoli Road (north), and the Saida Road (south)—has substantially increased accessibility and mobility in the region. The railways were profitable during the two world wars, with daily passengers and regional freight movement between Beirut and Aleppo, as well as two daily return journeys between Beirut and Damascus.

After the civil war, the country was left with 40 abandoned train stations spread among different cities. Despite its current poor public transport system, there is a lack of political will to revive the railways. What does it take us to build it back?