and Al Qa’im. However, all international routes operated by Syrian Railways were suspended due to the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. The restoration of the rail link with Iraq (IRR) and the proposal to extend the railway from Al-Qaim in Iraq through Al-Bukamal in Syria to Homs for a total distance of 270 kilometers and thence to Tartus are as of 2022 under discussion. Trackage These were the figures prior to the ongoing Syrian conflict: total: standard gauge: gauge narrow gauge: gauge (2000) Chemin de Fer de Hedjaz Syrie Operations The network is designed wholly around diesel-electric traction. For operational purposes CFS is divided into three regions: Central, Eastern and Northern. At the end of 2004 CFS employed around 12,400 staff. The system has a low level capacity, with top speed usually limited. A section of the Damascus - Aleppo line was designed for speeds reaching , but most of the track has a limit of . Most tracks of the CFS are limited to . Operational train speed is also limited by a lack of interlocked signalling, with most of the system operating by informal signalling. The Damascus al-Hijaz railway station, which lies in the city centre, is no longer operational, and the railway connections with other cities depart from the suburban station of Qadam. The result is that most passenger traffic has moved to air-conditioned coaches, and freight traffic dominates the operational trackage. The 2005 introduction of South Korean-built DMUs, where drivers were trained using a simulator, on the Damascus - Aleppo route, and the high traffic Aleppo - Latakia route where intermediate stations are bypassed, resulted in higher usage and occupancy levels. The only remaining section of narrow gauge line, running from a point on the outskirts of Damascus into Jordan, is operated by Hedjaz Jordan Railway. International connections The only international connection was with Turkey, but that link was halted due to the Syrian Civil War. The link with Iraq, severed in the war of 2003, was restored for a time but closed again; there was a plan to reopen it in June 2009. In 2008 it was proposed to open a joint rolling stock factory with Turkish State Railways at Aleppo. Background on trains from Istanbul to Syria: A brief history of the Taurus Express: Agatha Christie wrote the first part of her novel Murder on the Orient Express during her stay in room