Beirut’s railway archives recover the institutional memory behind a restored station

Dozens of bags of railway documents emerged during rehabilitation work at Beirut’s Mar Mikhael station. Administrative records, technical papers and correspondence date to at least 1933, UNESCO reported on 29 September.

The collection was identified while a team prepared a permanent industrial-heritage exhibition. Searching for evidence of the station’s role led researchers to the archives preserved by Lebanon’s railway and public transport authority, OCFTC.

The papers trace an administration’s continuity, including its transition from a private French railway company to a public autonomous office. Their value rests in the connections across a collection, rather than one exceptional drawing or letter.

A dedicated archive room has been prepared in the restored annex, and original cabinets have been refurbished. Selected items will inform the exhibition. Much of the material still needs examination, inventorying, cataloguing and conservation.

The heritage-park project is initiated by Lebanese authorities, funded by Italy through its development cooperation agency and implemented by UNESCO. Restoring a building and making its documentary memory accessible run on different timescales; the latter requires sustained archival work.

Sources: UNESCO · 2026-09-29