[ATHENA] CFP- Rail Routes from the Baghdad Railway to the New Silk Road (19th to 21st Centuries) , Turkey 2-5 Nov 2016

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Call for Papers

Rail Routes from the Baghdad Railway to the New Silk Road (19th to 21st 
Centuries) – Utopian Dreams, Past Achievements, and Future Prospects for Rail 
Transport between Europe and the Middle and Far East

7th International International Conference on Railway History in the historic 
sta-tion of Haydarpaça in Istanbul (Turkey)  from 2nd to 5th November 2016. 
Organ-ised by the International Railway History Association (IRHA), and 
supported by the Turkish Railways (TCDD), and the International Union of 
Railways (UIC)

The dream of a transcontinental railway connection between Europe and Asia 
dates back to the beginning of the railway age when many memoranda sketched a 
golden future of journeys and exchange of goods between both continents and 
of easy ac-cess to Asian markets. But for decades such projects, often 
characterised as “utopian dreams”, remained unfulfilled. 
It was not until the 1880s, and also at the beginning of the 20th century, 
that the Ottoman and Russian Empires invested heavily in big infrastructure 
projects of this kind.
Seeking to shake off stagnation, the Ottoman Empire initially considered 
railways an economic and strategic tool that would help it become a bridge 
between Europe and the Middle East. However, in order to build railway lines 
the Empire depended on European capital and therefore became part of the 
complex and difficult interests of different imperialistic powers. Next, the 
Ottoman Empireʼs dissolution and the emer-gence of new states in the 
aftermath of World War One divided the railway network that had actually been 
built (over 8,000 kilometres, across the Empire) into separate entities with 
limited efficiency. 
Several decades later, the new geo-political reality after World War Two, as 
well as the Cold War, boosted Turkey’s role as a hub between Europe and Asia, 
but priority was given to road construction. New opportunities for the 
expansion of rail infrastructure arose at the end of the Cold War, in the 
1990s, when the number of those promoting the establishment of new railway 
corridors between Europe and Asia increased significantly. Recent 
achievements of Turkey ‒ its investments in high-speed lines or the Marmaray 
line and Avrasya rail tunnel under the Bosphorus (official slogan: “an 
unbroken journey by rail from London to
Beijing”) fit in this picture.

The role Turkey played during the 19th and 20th centuries deserves a wider 
research perspective and raises a set of specific questions: Which railway 
projects besides the famous Baghdad Railway were accomplished and for what 
purpose? How did the system of traffic and transport corridors between Europe 
and Asia endure the clash of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the Arab 
successor states? Did railways continue to act as links between Europe and 
the Middle East, and did they support economic integration between the 
regions affected, or was their role purely local? Other topics may be 
considered as well: How did railways enact or modify the traditional role and 
image of Turkey as a staging post between Europe and Asia? Can observations 
be made about contributions by railways to the modernisation of societies or 
the integration of territories? What do old railway stations and the presence 
of railways in villages and in museums tell us about the railways’ past? How 
did railways in the Middle (and Far) East affect European imaginations about 
travel to Asia, as mirrored, for example, in literature about the Orient 
Express in former days or in Paul Theroux’s The Great Railway Bazaar in 
modern times?

The conference will also examine the past, presence, and future of 
alternative inter-national corridors to the Far East. One of the most 
important ones is of course the Trans-Siberian Railway, built by Russia in 
the 1890s. But contrary to original inten-tions, this line did only in 
limited ways serve as a link between two continents. Used mainly for internal 
purposes for many decades, the line was not opened to transit business until 
the 1980s. The main question remains: Why have all efforts to modernise and 
open the Transsib met with only limited success up to the present, and what 
will be its future? Its inefficiency was the reason why at the end of the 
20th century new alternatives were planned and proposed, such as the ECO 
corridor, TAR, TRACECA, or Chinaʼs initiative to restore the former Silk 
Road. These more recent developments will be an important part of the 
conference. Although we would like to include aspects of earlier projects, in 
the context of a long-lasting memory of the Silk Road, the following 
questions will be
central: Do these projected links between Europe and the Far East have a 
chance to be realised? How will the projects be funded and which countries 
will be involved? What about harsh political confrontations between countries 
likely to be involved, and escalations potentially leading to armed conflicts 
and even wars? Are there ways to surmount the technical problems of different 
track gauges being used in many of the existing railway networks alongside 
the projected corridors? What will be the time frame, and last but not least, 
are these corridors likely to compete with existing routes across Russia or 
with traditional road or maritime routes? It is in this broad context that 
the conference will address role of all the countries concerned by these 
visions of a future con-tinental transport system and especially the role of 
present-day Turkey as one of the prominent transit countries, as well as its 
potential to become a major player in a future intercontinental transport 
system and an important hub between Europe and the Middle and Far East.

Please, send in proposals of max. 1 page length and a short CV.

Prof. Dr. Ralf Roth
Historisches Seminar der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, 
Norbert-Wollheimplatz 1
60629 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
E-Mail: Dr.Ralf.Roth AT t-online.de

Deadline for submission of proposals: 20 May 2016 Up to 300 Euros will be 
available to each contributor towards travel and lodging ex-penses.