Aboard The Baghdad Express
Well before sunrise, engineer Akeel Hamid warms up his diesel locomotive.
And, with a police guard, eases Baghdad's only commuter train toward the suburbs.
It's such a basic service, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, with basic traffic control, and a drive-by grab for a chit to show Hamid is on time and on track.
As the train rolls on, he's optimistic that more people will eventually choose to travel by rail through Baghdad's chaotic urban sprawl.
"We only got the run going six weeks ago," Hamid said through a translator. "Little by little, the passenger traffic is building."
But at the end of the track the train is parked at last in the suburbs on a sorry siding with no platform.
Most commuters simply walk past the train toward the minibuses next door.
Maybe they're put off by the makeshift boarding platform: a rock.
On the return journey to Baghdad, there are still more empty seats than passengers.
But conductor Zaidan Khalaf, collecting a 40-cent fare for the one-hour journey, isn't discouraged.
"People just don't trust the train yet," he said. "All the recent violence has left them afraid."
Palmer wonders if they'd be more afraid if they could see the games of chicken that happen as cars dart in front of the train at intersections, since at every road crossing the barrier gates are stolen or smashed.
Hundreds of travelers used to arrive on the train every day to Baghdad's once-grand station.
Now, with a major renovation underway, there are dreams of restoring it.
But the Iraqi railway's immediate ambition is modest: To keep the trains rolling, one rush hour at a time.
