Reforming Lebanon and Beirut's transport network

[roch10452]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

The bus is a melting pot of Lebanese society.

It is one of the few places where people from different backgrounds get together. Most of the time no communication happens; but a few times, people get to strike a conversation and learn a couple of things about that passenger sitting next to them.

You are kidding... we used to organize picnics on my bus! Everyone of the usual passengers have become friends with all the rest

Originally Posted by Qwiw

Pour 300 millions de dollars, une nouvelle ligne de train de près de 60 kms a été mise en place au Canada, comprenant la construction de 11 nouvelles gares.

Admettons qu'il faille réhabiliter les 100 kms de ligne déjà existante entre Beyrouth et Tripoli, on ne devrait pas dépasser les 100 millions de dollars, vu la différence de cout de main d'oeuvre et de fabrication de certains matériaux.

Cela représenterait 1/10ème des bénéfices annuels du ministère des Télécommunications.

I think most of that line has construction on it now

[Dry Ice]

Well I did not take the bus on regular times

[zaher_leb]

Railway/tramway don't have a place in many of the places you are mentioning. On the other hand, underground metros won't work for us. The best bet is for monorail; it requires minimal space because it is elevated and because it has one single beam, and it doesn't interfere with any other transportation modes (like a railway and tramway would do).

[roch10452]

some here played too much railroad tycoon

maglev trains, monorails....

those are still prototypes and cost a lot

what is wrong with buses, and a few train lines?

lebanon is only 200km wide
we can work more on efficient electrical cars
did you know that isreal took a project from Nissan-Renault to test the electrical cars prototype for a whole country?
shame that the lebanese didnt even try to get that project while the CEO of Renault is a lebanese guy!

[dodzi]

Originally Posted by roch10452

some here played too much railroad tycoon

maglev trains, monorails....

those are still prototypes and cost a lot

what is wrong with buses, and a few train lines?

lebanon is only 200km wide
we can work more on efficient electrical cars
did you know that isreal took a project from Nissan-Renault to test the electrical cars prototype for a whole country?
shame that the lebanese didnt even try to get that project while the CEO of Renault is a lebanese guy!

A train network is possible. It might cost a bit because we need not only build the network but also destroy some houses to let the train network go through. But the benefits are huge when you think that transport will be so much easier between the cities and the Arab world!

As for your comment about Israel, the reasons are multiple (infrastructure, market, etc.), but the main reason is that Israel has one of the highest oil prices in the world (I'll let you figure out why by yourself ;) ). Electric cars in Israel are relatively cost-efficient compared to petrol cars! There's also the fact that Jews can't drive sticks ;) Just jokin

[dodzi]

Does anyone know how many and where the train stations of Lebanon are situated? I found only two in Beirut:

- the one near the Seaport (Gemmayze train station): very little space and very difficult to rebuild the tracks without having to rethink the entire coastline network (Highway, coastal road, and of course the constructed areas...)

- the one near Adlieh (Beirut train station - between the Ministry of Finance and Sioufi Park): this one shows a lot of potential at a first look, as there are a lot of empty space in Furn el-Chebbak, and an easy connection could be made to Aley, and hence, further to the Bekaa valley and Syria for commercial connections. Also, it is possible, after a little bit of restructuring, to connect this station to the port, by destroying very little quarters, and transforming one secondary road into railroad. (This will not lead to a lot of problems, as this secondary road is parallel to the highway. People will just use the highway instead of that road). I will demonstrate what I mean in a bit.

[elias-aj]

Originally Posted by dodzi

Does anyone know how many and where the train stations of Lebanon are situated? I found only two in Beirut:

- the one near the Seaport (Gemmayze train station): very little space and very difficult to rebuild the tracks without having to rethink the entire coastline network (Highway, coastal road, and of course the constructed areas...)

- the one near Adlieh (Beirut train station - between the Ministry of Finance and Sioufi Park): this one shows a lot of potential at a first look, as there are a lot of empty space in Furn el-Chebbak, and an easy connection could be made to Aley, and hence, further to the Bekaa valley and Syria for commercial connections. Also, it is possible, after a little bit of restructuring, to connect this station to the port, by destroying very little quarters, and transforming one secondary road into railroad. (This will not lead to a lot of problems, as this secondary road is parallel to the highway. People will just use the highway instead of that road). I will demonstrate what I mean in a bit.

There are many other stations (wrecked, collapsed or with some remnants). At least in Tripoli, in Baalbek - and/or Rayak, Jounieh, Saida, Tyr...

There are still some old locomotives in Tripoli and Jounieh at least.

You could try this website, in case, for further information : CEL - Lebanese Railways.

[dodzi]

This is Beirut Rail Station. It is situated between Adlieh Square (West), Sioufi Park (North) and Souk el Ahad (East):




In the next pictures, you will see how I'm imagining the railway to go from Beirut Sea Port (Gemmayze Station) to the Beirut Rail Station. I have imagined 2 possible routes:

Plan A:

- phase 1: the rail will impede on Beddaoui neighborhood and a bit on the New Hajen neighborhood, until it reaches the avenue that leads to Adlieh (the Ring). The first segment of this avenue is easy to replace through two options: either making this segment of the road less wide, or by replacing the route by the already existing --and parallel-- highway. The highway will be reconnected with the ring on a further intersection.



- phase 2: the rail will keep on the same path, until after the Yerevan bridge, where it will be able to retake again an available space.



- phase 3: the rail will keep on the available space, until it has to cross the intersection. Now this is a tough one, as this intersection is an important one. I have imagined that it was possible to build the crossing underground, as it is only a small section, so it wouldn't cost too much. After this, the rail will be able to successfully reach Beirut Station.




Plan B:

It is possible that destroying the Armenian neighborhoods, as well as closing the avenue, could lead to some political, social, financial and logistical problems, so I have imagined a second possible route. This one crosses between the constructions without directly impeding on any neighborhoods or important traffic routes. The only problem is, it has very little room to breath, and will travel very close to highly residential neighborhoods (as opposed to commercial neighborhoods as per Plan A. Of course, on a first phase, this railroad will only carry freight trains for commercial and industrial purposes. It is also possible to build these rails as a virtual tunnel (meaning that we could cover the rails with cement so that the noise doesn't disturb the inhabitants too much.



I believe plan B is more realist. You could go on google earth/wikimapia to verify the route: it will impede only on some green areas, and a very tertiary road. But ultimately, it is important to make some sacrifices for the good of the country and its economy!

[shreek]

Originally Posted by dodzi

I sure hope you're being sarcastic!

You might be sarcastic but many people in Lebanon think this way. However, I myself first used such buses as a teenager, as I realized that my parents wouldn't always take me to my girlfriend's house through Jal el Dib's traffic jams.
..........!

ok, wait a second, which Bus(ses) are we talking about here?
The Lebanese Transport Company Buses or the Blue Hyundai buses (with "Allahu Akbar" on them)?

[Leb_Rebel]

Why would you build a train in a country that is covered in hills and mountains???Outside Lebanon, most railways are built on plains(correct me if I'm mistaken)
Personally think it is a waste of time. We don't have that big of a country, and any train network on the coastline will involve destroying residential areas and/or significant efforts to bypass them.

Reorganizing the road network to accommodate the increasing traffic and making it acceptable while investing in efficient and respectable public transportation is the way to go.And I believe this is much cheaper.