IRR Eastern Line

A 27 km (17 mi) branch from Jalawla Junction to Khanaqin was extended from Kingerban, replacing the old wartime line to Quraitu in today's Iran.

Shortly after the start of World War 1, Russia repudiated its obligation to build the Khanaqin-Tehran Line as a part of the Trans-Iranian Railway.

[2][3][4] After the British received the Mandate for Mesopotamia in 1918, the Baghdad-Quraitu Railway commenced construction to Quretu in modern day Iran, 210 km (130 mi) from Baghdad.

[5]After 1968, the Ba'ath regime put a similar plan to Saleh Zaki Tawfiq's forward to replace the existing railway with a new standard-gauge railway for interoperability with the IRR Northern, as well as the recently to standard-gauge retrofitted IRR Southern Line.

However, after further planning and evaluation, it was decided to build a new standard-gauge railway, creating a faster connection to Baghdad from Kirkuk.

[7] Erbil and the rest of the Kurdistan Region slowly lost their rail service starting in 1984 by order of the Office of the Presidency of the Iraqi Republic and finishing on May 15, 1988.

[8] As a result, many landmarks along the old line, such as the Erbil Railway Terminal, the Baba Kiwan Junction, multiple bridges, and various facilities such as hotels and hospitals, were demolished.

The IRR Eastern Line in the Northwest of the map, with a false "Proposed Line" from Kirkuk to Mosul instead of Erbil.
A poster from the days of the metre-gauge railway.