Iraq: Iraq Transportation Profile

For additional than two decades there have been plans for building a metro system in Baghdad. It is possible that part of the tunnels have been built, but that they are presently used militarily for sheltering, hiding and escaping purposes. U.N. inspectors have heard of the tunnels for years, but have not found their entrances. November, 2008, an overground service dubbed the Baghdad Metro began service. Local government in Baghdad is arranging feasibility studies for the construction of two new underground lines

A 37 km monorail is planned in Najaf, which would link three Shi'ite holy sites.

The initial Iraqi Republic Railways train to Basra since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime arrived on 26 April 2003. British troops hope to use the 68 km long railway to transport much-needed aid supplies from the port town of Umm Qasr to Basra.

In June 2011, it was announced that planning had begun for a new high-speed rail line between Baghdad and Basra, with a memorandum of considerate with Alstom having been signed

Railway links with adjacent countries

All adjacent nations generally use 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge, but may vary in couplings. Neighbours with electrified railways - Turkey and Iran - both use the world standard 25 kVAC

Turkey Turkey - via Syria
Iran Iran - one link partially under construction and a second link planned
Khorramshahr, Iran, to Basra, Iraq - almost complete (2006)
Kermanshah, Iran, and the Iraqi province of Diyala - construction commenced.
see ([4]) or 2005.
Kuwait Kuwait - no railways
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia -
Jordan Jordan - partially constructed - break of gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge/1,050 mm (3 ft 5 11⁄32 in) gauge
Syria Syria - same gauge - at Rabiya/Nurabiya

List of Highways in Iraq

An overland trans-desert bus service between Beirut, Haifa, Damascus and Baghdad was established by the Nairn Transport Company of Damascus in 1923.

Iraq has a network of highways connecting it from the inside part the Iraq provinces and to the outside neighbouring nations: Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. At the same time as Saddam visited the United States in the 1980s, he was impressed by the size and infrastructure of the Highway system. He ordered his engineers to build highways in the American form - wide lanes, shoulders and clover leafs.

Waterways

5,729 km (Euphrates River (2,815 km), Tigris River 1,899 km, Third River (565 km)); Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic for about 130 km. The channel has been dredged to 3 m and is in use. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers have navigable sections for shallow-draft watercraft; the Shatt al Basrah canal was navigable by shallow-draft craft before closing in 1991 because of the Gulf War.

Iraq Infrastructure Report

According to the new data released by the Central Organisation for Statistics, Iraq's construction sector has been booming. The data confirms our optimistic outlook for the sector, and therefore we are maintaining our double digit increase estimate for 2011. However, delays in projects and rising security risks are weighing on our 2012 and 2013 outlook.

Iraq's construction sector continues to grapple with the political and economic challenges of a post-war country. Despite a huge project pipeline, as the country tries to mend its war-torn infrastructure and make up for decades of underinvestment, the business environment, economy and political climate continue to present challenges. The sheer number of projects under way and in the pipeline - US$33bn in infrastructure alone, and the very low base, is precipitating extremely high increase in the country's construction sector, which, according to new data, saw 34% increase in 2009 and 65% increase in 2010. Whilst we believe this will slow, this is due in part to base effects, as the in general industry price becomes additional robust.

However, as before mentioned the obstacles to pushing projects through are hitting expected price creation. These are primarily political, economic and security related. The lack of sophisticate institutions and poor governance is impacting procurement. At the same time, rising security risks following the US withdrawal are threatening to destabilise the business environment. In the simplest form, security risks had receded from the primary risk associated with entering Iraq; however the growing instances of sectarian violence could see security concerns become paramount once again. At the same time, the instability and crippling lack of unity in the government is impacting policy creation. The government has struggled to pass a US$37bn infrastructure programme and further struggles to disperse funding for projects in a coherent manner.

The finance issue is both economic, the failure to restart oil production to the level desired, and delays in monetising gas, inclunding bureaucratic. A lack of financing has derailed the Baghdad metro project and shortcomings in due diligence and governance resulted in contracts for power plants signed with unviable companies and the subsequent resignation of the electricity minister.