Trains
Trains in Iraq
Iraq Railways · There is no online booking and no railway website. Tickets are sold at the station on the day of travel (Baghdad office 09:00–19:00). Seat61 says payment is cash or MasterCard; bring cash to be safe. Luggage is checked one hour before departure.
Checked 3 November 2026Partly official
What we could not confirm
- The Baghdad–Karbala and Basra–Karbala frequencies are not in the cited article.
- MasterCard acceptance at the counter rests on one source (Seat61).
- The 2026 status of the Tehran–Karbala rail-bus-rail service; it may have been Arbaeen-only or discontinued, and Iraqi trains were suspended during Arbaeen 2026.
How to buy
- 1Go to the station on the day you travel; tickets are not sold earlier or online.
- 2Pay in cash (Iraqi dinars). MasterCard is reported at the counter, but do not rely on it.
- 3Arrive at least an hour before departure for the luggage check.
- 4Baghdad–Basra overnight: 19:00 from Baghdad, 19:30 from Basra (resumed 7 August 2026).
If you cannot pay yourself
A weekly Tehran–Karbala rail-bus-rail service (train to Shalamcheh, bus to Basra, Iraqi train to Karbala, Saturdays) was announced in August 2024, but Safarmarket (December 2025) describes the current way to Iraq as train to Kermanshah then bus to the Khosravi border, with the Shalamcheh–Basra line due by the end of 1404. Do not count on it in 2026.
Routes worth knowing
Baghdad–Basra (overnight)
2-berth sleeper 37,000 IQD, 4-berth 31,000, 1st-class seat 15,000, 2nd-class 10,000.
Baghdad–Karbala
Reported 7 trains a day during the Arbaeen season (unverified).
Basra–Karbala
Reported 3 trains a day during the Arbaeen season (unverified).