Occupying Transit Spaces: The Case of Lebanon’s Abandoned Railways

Abstract

After its complete stop due to the civil war, the Lebanese railway system was subject to many studies and attempts of revival, which unfortunately were never executed. Built in the late nineteenth century, this means of public transportation played a crucial role in Lebanon’s uprising, since it used to connect the country at a national and international scale, linking Europe to Africa and Asia by train. War left Lebanon with 40 abandoned train stations scattered in different cities and around 400 km of railway lines. Since then, some of these stations and rail lines have been transformed to accommodate the changes in the urban fabric, whereas others are still stuck in time. While Lebanon suffers from a poor public transportation system, the railway components have been enclosed by high walls or fences not allowing any visual contact or physical access, claiming the preservation of what is left of the stations, and hiding any potential of reviving the trains in Lebanon. On the other hand, with the scarcity of public spaces in the major Lebanese cities, many argue that these stations belong to the public sector and ought to be accessible to anyone. But what if the train comes back one day? This chapter mixes between both a comparative approach and a chronological analysis to investigate how the perception of the Lebanese train stations shifted from being a melting pot of culture to a prohibited space in a fragmented country, and looking at its potential future based on local and international case studies as well as current rehabilitation proposals. Then who knows? Maybe one day, we will hear the Lebanese train whistle again!