Syrian Railways Runs Fuel Trains on Damaged Network to Aleppo Plant

A Syrian Railways freight train departed Baniyas Refinery on a February morning carrying 5,000 tonnes of fuel oil in 12 tanker wagons. The shipment was bound for the Aleppo Thermal Power Plant, 20 kilometres east of Aleppo. The 170-metre train is pulled by a Soviet-built locomotive from the 1970s.

Crew members estimated the journey would take between 15 and 35 hours because the direct coastal line no longer exists.

Nidal Abdulkader, director of Syrian Railways operations in Tartous governorate, said many track sections were destroyed during the civil war that began in 2011. He added that some rails were removed and sold as scrap. Before the war, a direct line ran from the coast across the Jebel Ansarieh mountains to Aleppo.

The current route detours south around the mountains. Abdulkader said locomotives date from the 1970s, engines have not been updated since the early 2000s, and some tankers leak. Only freight trains operate because arrival times cannot be reliably predicted.

Hassan, head of train-filling operations at Baniyas Refinery, said activity increased after the fall of the previous government in December 2024. On good days, two or three trains leave the refinery for Homs or Aleppo. Hassan stated that rail transport is essential because trucking the same volumes would be more difficult.

The refinery is one of the last functioning parts of Syria’s fuel distribution network.

The three-person crew of locomotive 708 includes driver Abu Mahmoud, train chief Hussein, and assistant Mohammed. All three are from the coastal region. Mohammed said he joined the army in 2010 because local men were told they had no choice but military service or staying at sea.

He left the army in 2018 and joined Syrian Railways. The crew members said they continue their work despite concerns after March 2025 violence targeting the Alawite community. They described the train service as a way to remain useful across social divides.