Baghdad Railway history

CFOA Chemins de fer Ottomans d'Anatolie

From the onset, the CFOA was intended to go eastward but the building of a line from Istanbul to Mesopotamia raised several problems. First, the financial risk appeared to big for the German banks and the CFOA to undertake alone such a venture. For this reason, a new company with a broader investor base was needed. The Deutsche Bank sought support from British and French investors in return for a large share of the equity (30% each) in this new company.

But quickly, the project became political as well because the Great Powers were wary of a line that could have a major strategic role. The British in particular feared that this line could provide an overland access to India and put their own monopoly interests into jeopardy. They feared also that the line would reinforce the German influence in Anatolia and Mesopotamia. The German government itself gave this kind of advertisement when the Kaiser visited the Sultan to sponsor the project. Under public opinion pressure, the British government had to veto the participation of British investors in this project.

The French had a different approach: instead of withdrawing, they accepted the offer to enter the capital of the Baghdad Railway in the hope to be able the get some control over the project. They feared that the Baghdad Railway might compete with their own companies SCP and DHP. The French were also the main lenders to the Ottomans and kept a close eye on the state finance. However in order so safeguard public opinion at home, the French Government did not allow trading of the Baghdad Railway shares at the Paris stock exchange, thus very much reducing the liquidity of the trading. If the British had a similar approach, one can speculate that a Franco British alliance could have taken control of the project at any point.

In 1890, the intend of the Ottoman Government and of the German engineers was to reach Mesopotamia with a "northern route" Ankara Kayseri Sivas Diyarbakir. This project was set up by Wilhem von Pressel, former chief engineer of the CO but was opposed by Russia because it was too close to its southern border now in Kars. In order not to upset them, the Ottoman government finally favored a south route from Konya to Adana through the famous Cilician Gates. This project was much costlier than the Ankara Diyarbakir route.

One will note that this visionary "northern line" was subsequently built by TCDD almost 70 years later.

The Ottoman chose to place the line outside the range of the British Navy guns. Therefore, the coastal way from Iskenderun to Alep was not possible. The line had to cross the Anamus mountains inland at the cost of expensive engineering including an 8 km tunnel between Ayran and Fevzipasa.

Since 1896 when the rails reached Konya, it took seven years of patient negotiations for the Germans to finalize all the terms of the Baghdad railway and secure its financing. Two important milestones mark these years:

May 6, 1899: agreement between the Deutsche Bank and the CFOA on one hand, and the SCP representing the French interest on the other hand. This agreement defined the role and the status of the French in the future railway, giving the French 40% of the stock and voting rights equal to the German's. The agreement provided also the terms of cooperation between the CFOA and the SCP, including the Afyon junction line between the two companies. This agreement removed the French opposition to the project. The Ottoman Government then awarded on November 27, 1899 a concession to the Deutsche Bank for a railway from Konya to Baghdad and Basra.
March 5, 1903: final Baghdad Railway convention between the Deutsche Bank and the Ottoman government. Enough financing was secured and "Société Impériale Ottomane du Chemin de Fer de Baghdad" was subsequently incorporated on April 13, 1903. This convention, based on the November 1899 agreement, granted an estimated 2400 km of line to Basra plus another 800 km of branch lines in Syria and Mesopotamia. Under the term of the convention, the Ottoman gave a yearly financial revenue guaranty of 4500 Francs per kilometers and transfer free of charge of the land needed for the line.
Construction begins
Work of the first 200 km of the line, from Konya to Bulgurlu, was allowed to proceed on the July 27, 1903, as per the Convention. The main contractor was again Holzmann & Co. This first section is relatively flat and straight, it was built quickly and ready for opening on the Sultan Birthday, October 25, 1904.

It has been noted at the time that both the Société Impériale Ottomane du Chemin de Fer de Baghdad and Holzmann made very little use of German expatriates. Most of the engineers and workers working on the site were of Italians, Greeks, Armenians or Turkish origin.

Difficulty in fund raising and in engineering slowed again very much the project. Work on the second 900 km part of the line, from Bulgurlu to Nusaybin was given a go ahead on 2nd June 1908. But the 1908 Young Turks revolution delayed the actual start. The Swiss contractors started work in December 1909.

In the mean time, the Deutsche Bank acquired in 1906 the Mersin Tarsus Adana railway. This railway served as a starting point both westward towards Bulgurlu and eastward toward the Anamus Mountains. A fourth ground breaking area was started in Alep to build the easy part across the desert. Alep was already connected to Rayak since 1906 by the standard gauge track of "Société Ottoman du Chemin de Fer Damas Hama et Prolongements" (DHP).

World War 1
In 1914, at the outbreak of the war, the second part of line was almost complete except for the main tunnels across the Taurus and the Anamus. The third part from Nusaybin to Baghdad was also started with 125 km from Sammarah to Baghdad opening in October 1914. At this point, it must be understood that the line brought intense pressure on the British as the shortcut to India started to materialize. The line was near Mossoul and its oil reserves were already considered as a strategic asset. The line created a modern transportation mean between the two strategic areas of Anatolia and Mesopotamia. From Alep, the connection to the Hedjaz Railways through Rayak extended the reach of the Ottomans to the Suez Canal as proven when the Ottoman armies managed an attack to the Canal in January 1915. The Baghdad Railway served as a symbol of the growing influence of Germany in the Middle East and helped precipitate the First World War.

The fact that the tunnels were not completed in 1914 created big bottlenecks for the supplies from Anatolia to the Ottoman and German armies stationed in Mesopotamia. Tunneling works were accelerated and in 1917, the 600mm gauge track that was laid for construction purpose finally came through both tunnels. It was then used across the unfinished tunnels to carry war supplies using a fleet one hundred engines that were supplied by Henschel from 1916 to 1918. All these engines were Bt type (040 tank), except for five E (0-10-0) fireless type. The tunnels were only completed in 1918, a few days before the Moudros Armistice.

After the 1918 armistice, the French army moved in to occupy Cilicia and Syria and took control of the trunk of the Baghdad Railway on this territory. The rest of the line fell under British Military Command, along with the CFOA. The frontier was set at Pozanti. The British took over also the part of the line near Baghdad in what will become Iraq. When the British withdrew from Anatolia on February 22, 1920, operation of the line between Konya and Pozanti was given to the Turkish Nationalists. A Turkish government organization was created for this purpose: "Les Chemins de fer d'Anatolie Baghdad".



Chemins de fer de Cilicie Nord Syrie.
The French and the Turkish Nationalist signed a first agreement on March 9, 1921, paving the way for a cease-fire and the evacuation in December 1921 of Cilicia by the French Army. This agreement was translated into and "Accord" signed in Ankara on October 20, 1921. This accord had the following consequences:

The border between Syria and Turkey is placed just south of the line between Çobanbey and Nusaybin. The ownership of the whole Baghdad line between Pozanti and Nusaybin is acknowledged to Turkey.
The French interests in the Baghdad Railway are recognized. Therefore, the concession of the line from Pozanti to Nusaybin is transferred to a new French operating company "les Chemins de fer de Cilicie Nord Syrie". This new company will be entitled to the kilometric revenue guaranty given formerly to the Baghdad Railway.


Chemins de fer Bozanti-Alep-Nissibine et Prolongements
In 1927 the French operating company was renamed "Société d'exploitation des Chemins de fer Bozanti-Alep-Nissibine et Prolongements" (BANP). Despite its name, it is likely that the BANP transferred the operation of the Pozanti - Yenice and Mersin - Adana lines to TCDD around 1929. Perhaps even sooner for the Pozanti Yenice section since it makes no sense to split the Konya Adana line at Pozanti.