"Allawi! Allawi! Allawi!" one of the rail workers shouts repeatedly through a bullhorn as he paces the platform trying to lure passengers. Allawi is the name of the transportation hub next to the central train station, from which people can catch taxis and buses to their final destinations.
Taxi driver Yassin Hameed hops aboard just to check out the competition. He isn't convinced people will take a train for short trips. "They probably think a taxi is faster," he says, eyeing the vinyl seats and the dusty windows. "It's good for longer trips, but not in the city. And it looks slow. Is it slow?"
At 7:15, the train begins heading back toward central Baghdad with a handful of passengers. More board at the three stops along the way, until there are about 20 total.
"It's beautiful, but it's slow," says Mohammed Ali, a Baghdad University student who normally takes the taxi from his Dora home to school. But the first-time rider says he will keep taking it. "I think it's more secure than the taxis," he says. "What's good here is there are no checkpoints, no traffic, no explosions."
Another first-time passenger, Emad Abdullah, who works at the Ministry of Communications, says he hopes to commute on the train but worries that passengers aren't frisked before boarding. "Once it starts to become crowded, anyone could bring a bomb on it," he says as the train slows for its arrival at the central station.
It's right on time -- 8 a.m. -- and passengers trickle out. Since the train left on its morning journey, the station has come to life. In the marble rotunda, a worker mops the floor. A small market selling coffee and food has opened. Outside, Jassem and his crew walk slowly up the long platform, past the lines of carriages shining under the morning sun, to await the next departure of the Baghdad Metro.
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tina.susman@latimes.com
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latimes.com/baghdadtrain
A Baghdad Metro photo gallery is available online.
