Aging rail crews keep Syria’s fuel flow running despite decay and danger

Baniyas refinery fuels a perilous rail lifeline

Syria’s largest refinery in Baniyas has become a critical hub for moving fuel by rail across a shattered network, with convoys now running again after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Workers load 12-tanker trains bound for the Aleppo thermal power plant, relying on decades-old Soviet locomotives, handwritten orders handed from platforms, and manual level crossings because signalling and much of the infrastructure were destroyed or looted during the civil war. Journeys that once took hours now require long detours, take 15–35 hours or more, and are made harder by leaking tankers, primitive equipment and shortages of staff and spares.

The work is hazardous and underpaid: crews earn roughly $100 a month plus small per-diem top-ups, face long shifts, and regularly confront accidents at unprotected crossings — including collisions that have killed civilians. Despite layoffs, damaged brakes, and the psychological strain of a shifting political landscape, rail employees describe a strong sense of duty to restore power to cities and keep communities running, accepting risks to keep Syria’s fragile recovery moving forward, as reported by Al Jazeera