Iraqi Republic Railways
| Government-owned corporation | |
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Founded | 1905 |
| Headquarters | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Products | Passenger Rail Transport |
| Website | www.scr.gov.iq |
| Iraqi Republic Railways | |
|---|---|
| Operation | |
| National railway | Iraqi Republic Railways Company |
| Track gauge | |
| Main | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Iraqi Republic Railways Company (IRR) (Arabic: الشركة العامة لسكك الحديد العراقية) is the national railway operator in Iraq.
IRR comprises 1,905 kilometres (1,184 mi) of 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. IRR has one international interchange, with Chemins de Fer Syriens (CFS) at Rabiya. The system runs from Rabiya southward through Mosul, Baiji, and Baghdad to Basra, with a branch line from Shouaiba Junction (near Basra) to the ports of Khor Az Zubair and Umm Qasr, westward from Baghdad through Ramadi and Haqlaniya to Al Qaim and Husayba, with a branch line from Al Qaim to Akashat, and east-west from Haqlaniya through Bayji to Kirkuk.
The first section of railway in what was then the Ottoman Empire province of Mesopotamia was a 123 kilometres (76 mi) length of the Baghdad Railway between that city & Samarra opened in 1914. Work had started northwards from Baghdad with the aim of meeting the section being constructed across Turkey & Syria to Tel Kotchek and an extension northwards from Samarra to Baiji was opened in December 1918.
From 1916 onwards an invading British Military force brought narrow gauge equipment, firstly 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge and later 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge gauge from India to Southern Mesopotamia to construct various sections of line to support its offensive against the Turks. Britain defeated the Ottomans and Mesopotamia became a League of Nations mandate under British administration. In April 1920 the British military authorities transferred all railways to a British civilian administration, Mesopotamian Railways.
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