Syrians hope ruined train station could symbolize revival

Qadam station in the Syrian capital, Damascus, was once a symbol of progress. During the Ottoman Empire, it connected Europe with the Arabian Peninsula. But after years of civil war, shattered walls and twisted steel are all that remain of the once magnificent building. Train operator Mazen Malla grew up near the station. His father, uncles and grandfather all worked there.

The remaining employees at Qadam station cling to the hope of reconstruction — both for the railroad and for Syria, which is looking for a new start after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December. Charred wagons and destroyed workshops are all that remain after years of conflict and decades of neglect.

For Malla, who once operated trains out of the station, Qadam was a key part of his life. He would spend more than 12 hours at work. "The train is a part of us," he told The Associated Press in mid-January. "I wouldn't see my kids as much as I would see the train." Al-Assali, the neighborhood around Qadam, became a no-man's land during the war, with rebels and the army fighting fierce battles.

The Hejaz Railway, built under the Ottoman Empire's Sultan Abdulhamid II in the early 1900s, ran from Qadam to Medina in present-day Saudi Arabia. It was both a pilgrimage route and a military lifeline for the empire, with troops and equipment rolling along the strategic route. During World War I, the railway was targeted by Arab fighters in an armed uprising backed by Allied forces.

During the Syrian civil war, Assad's forces used the historic station as a vantage point on key rebel strongholds in Damascus, turning one office into a sniper's nest. "The army turned this into a military base," said Malla, adding that soldiers would scrawl slogans praising Assad and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group, a key ally, on the walls.

After Assad was ousted in December, Malla returned to find the station, which he described as "part of my soul," badly damaged. Train cars were battered and burned, and the trains and station had been stripped for parts to sell on the black market. "Everything was stolen. Copper, electric cables and tools — they were all gone," said Malla.

Malla dreams of reviving the railway to give the economy a boost. According to the UN, 90% of the more than 23 million Syrians live in poverty. Neighboring Turkey has already expressed interest in restoring the line. "I hope there will soon be job opportunities, so my son can be employed," said Malla. "That way he can revive the lineage of his grandfather, and the grandfather of his grandfather."