As the train approaches stations along the route, Hussein calls their staff with his cellphone. One employee then stands at the platform’s edge and hands over handwritten instructions to the locomotive driver as it passes.
Familiar with the process, Abu Mahmoud barely slows down, nonchalantly extending his arm through the window to grab the paper.
“These papers allow crews to receive the latest information on the state of the network,” he says. “They will, for example, give us an indication of a portion of the tracks where we must slow down, or if there is a problem on the road.”
This system makes up for the lack of electronic signalling.
“Everything is done manually,” Abdulkader explained the day before.
Before the war, everything was automated, but electrical installations have fallen into disrepair, and resources are too scarce to repair them.
The same is true with level crossings. Employees operate them manually, and are responsible for stopping motorists who sometimes cross the tracks unpredictably.
Past Tartous, the train heads away from the coast, continuing towards Homs. On the right, the snow-capped peaks of Mount Lebanon come into view.
Suddenly, Abu Mahmoud frantically sounds the locomotive’s horn, swearing and shattering the calm inside the cabin, which is bathed in the day’s last rays of sunlight.
Hussein and Mohammed grab the walls, bracing themselves.
Seconds later, the train slams into a vehicle that had ventured onto the tracks, resulting in a violent crash of crumpled metal. Despite hitting the brakes, the train, moving at 60 km/h and with its heavy cargo, could not stop in time.
The car is wedged at the front of the locomotive. Its sole occupant, an old man, lies motionless at the wheel.
Hussein and Abu Mahmoud jump down to assess the damage. They are soon joined by locals alerted by the horn sounding repeatedly, and the unusual sight of the train stopped in the countryside.
Remaining calm, the crew explains what happened to a group of men standing around the locomotive. The priority is to extract the driver as quickly as possible. Together, they smash the car’s windscreen and pull him free. Unresponsive but still alive, he is taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
“He’s a miracle survivor,” Abu Mahmoud whispers.
As a driver, he has seen these types of accidents many times.