REPORT: Riyaq train station; where history once roamed

The town of Riyaq, located near the city of Zahle has now turned into a "train cemetery".         

The worn out railways and trains in the long forgotten station and the phrase "once upon a time we had a train", written on one of the rail-cars, tell the history that many Bekaa citizens deplore, seemingly since they are now deprived of such a vital facility.             

While some of the railways remain steadfast surrounded by rail-cars that were once hustling and bustling as Bekaa citizens mounted them from Riyaq to Beirut and from Beirut to Damascus, rust seems to have eaten off many of what remained from that distant past.               

In a statement to LBCI, the then president of the railroad depot in Riyaq, George Maakaron said that the Riyaq station was renowned for being the largest station in the East, noting that all trains were sent "here for reparation."                 

For his part, a former employee at the station, 94-year-old Toufic al-Fouaani expressed his regret towards the current situation of the station, pointing that whoever wanted to go to Aleppo, came to Riyaq were three lines intersected; one coming from Beirut to Damascus, another from Damascus to Beirut and one from Damascus to Aleppo.



To watch full LBCI report, please click on the video above