BEIRUT: Despite reports that the government had renewed its interest in rebuilding the rail line between Beirut and Tabarja, the closest anyone is likely to come to buying a ticket is still an evening drinking $9 vodka tonics at an exclusive bar that opened recently in the historical Mar Mikhael train station.

“This is one of the pieces of evidence that the government is not working to bring back the railways,” said Elias Maalouf, founder of the rail advocacy organization Train Train, who opposes the Central Station bar. “They are disrespecting the heritage of the station. They have installed a DJ booth in an old locomotive; it’s one of only five [of its kind] left in the world.”