DAMASCUS: Rail freight shipments in Syria rose by nearly 59 percent during the first seven months of 2026 as maintenance crews repaired key routes and restored specialized equipment using locally available expertise and parts, the country’s railway authority said.
The General Establishment of Syrian Railways transported 663,479 tonnes of freight through July, compared with 417,859 tonnes during the same period of 2025, Director General Osama Haddad said.
Fuel oil accounted for most of the shipments, rising from 370,052 tonnes to 564,419 tonnes.
Haddad said the increase showed that the network was becoming better at moving strategic supplies and meeting essential transport needs.
Railway crews repaired weak points that had required freight trains to operate at reduced speeds.
They also rehabilitated main lines and branches, including the route connecting Tartus Port, Al-Radwaniyah and Baniyas Refinery.
The repairs allowed fuel-oil trains to resume speeds of 60 km per hour, while phosphate and grain trains could operate at 80 km per hour.
Maintenance on a bridge at kilometer 6+600 opened a route for carrying grain from the ports to the al-Waleed silo branch in Homs via Snaysel station, bolstering the country’s grain transport and food-security system.
Haddad said local workshops helped the establishment manage shortages of maintenance supplies and spare parts while avoiding expensive foreign offers.
Local technicians repaired a 0.8C-32 tamping machine for about $6,000.
A specialized Turkish company had offered to do the work for $345,000. The restored machine was used on 73.4 km of track and helped return the Aleppo–Homs line to standard speeds.
Crews also repaired an SSP 203 ballast regulator for about $5,000, compared with a $575,000 external offer.
It has since been used to maintain about 40 km of track and recover ballast for reuse, saving an estimated 2,410 Syrian pounds per cubic meter.
Five rail-mounted lifting trolleys, two Kirow telescopic cranes capable of lifting 160 and 80 tonnes, and 38 pieces of specialized track-maintenance equipment were also returned to service.
Haddad said the local work saved more than $3 million in external maintenance costs.
The authority also restored 44 grain-transport wagons in Tartous that had been out of service for more than a decade.
Officials expect them to reduce dependence on trucks and provide a safer and more efficient way to supply wheat to silos across Syria.
An “Analok” locomotive was also returned to service after repairs to its hydraulic and electrical systems.
It will be used for shunting and assembling wagons, reducing the need to deploy larger locomotives for those tasks.
The improvements reflect a broader effort to restore the railway sector and expand its role in moving grain and strategic commodities, Haddad said.
Transport Minister Yarub Badr said in May that Syria aimed to reclaim its historic position as a land bridge between Europe and the Arabian Gulf through regional agreements, renewed transit traffic and stronger railway links with neighboring countries.
