Hummus-Sana
Perhaps the strategic importance of the railway network in Syria in achieving economic development was a sufficient reason to systematically target it by terrorist groups that sought to cut all forms of communication between governorates and hit the components of the national economy.
The location of the Homs governorate regarding the railways is considered a major artery for the passage of the Syrian railways, and since the beginning of the events, these lines have been systematically targeted by terrorist groups that targeted the entire route of the railway line and the stations of the Homs branch directorate of railways to stop with their terrorist attacks the rail transport operations that were It is crossed in 2011.
The track of the railway line in Homs extends 253 km in length to 15 stations spread according to the nature of the branch’s work on the north-south and west-east axis, according to engineer Mohsen Mahmoud, director of the branch, who pointed out that terrorists have persistently sabotaged and stolen stations and dismantled the railways because of the influence of this sector. Directly on economic life.
And after the defeat of terrorism from the Homs governorate and the return of security and stability to the train crossing areas thanks to the sacrifices of the Syrian Arab Army, the largest trend by the Public Institution was towards the Homs branch, as it represented the main point in the rehabilitation of all the tracks on the Syrian railways.
Mahmoud indicated that a clear vision has been developed to restart work on the railway tracks in the governorate, in which the corporation’s cadres, mechanisms and equipment have been relied upon. The stock that has not been subjected to sabotage has been studied, the extent to which it is utilized, and the necessary mechanisms to take off work within the available capabilities and coordinate with the security authorities to uncover On the routes that were subjected to sabotage, clearing of mines, opening of roads and securing areas necessary for their protection, after that, work was launched.
According to Mahmoud, the first completed work was the repair of the coast line - Homs, as October of 2016 witnessed the beginning of the return of trains on this axis. Shanshar to transport grains from the coast and towards Homs, after which the maintenance and rehabilitation of the Homs refinery plant was carried out, the transfer of the fuel from the Homs refinery to the cement plant in Tartous was started, the branch of the SADCOP oil plant and the phosphate line, the eastern mines, and the transfer of phosphates began according to the requests submitted.
Mahmoud pointed out that the Kafr Aaya station, which is the main center of the Homs branch, which was completely destroyed and stolen by terrorist groups, was rehabilitated after an amount of 430 million pounds was allocated as an emergency plan by the Ministry of Transport to restore the life cycle to it and some of the buildings necessary for work and warehouse were maintained. Locomotives and power lines.
And at the beginning of 2019, according to Engineer Mahmoud, in cooperation with the Damascus branch, a section of the Homs Damascus line was maintained up to the Nassiriya silos in Damascus countryside to transport grain, and during the same year the railway line connecting to the Homs silos in the industrial zone passing through the Sunisil station with a length of 18 km was also maintained. Coordination was also made with the Hama branch and maintenance of the line from Homs towards Hama, and during the year 2020 the project to transport gravel from Hassia quarries to the coastal area was put into service.
Perhaps this activity of the Corporation's branch in Homs in terms of rehabilitation projects and in terms of implementing many vital projects contributed in its entirety to achieving reciprocal commercial movement at the level of the Syrian railway network between governorates and ports, and the cargo loads of various types were total that were transported, unloaded and loaded by the branch in the year 2020 amounted to 615,510 tons, according to Mahmoud.
Hanadi Diop