BAGHDAD – Iraqi railway officials say Saddam Hussein's personal luxury train will return to service next month.

Officials say the 23-carriage train will ferry passengers from Baghdad to the southern city of Basra.

The late Iraqi dictator used the French-built train only once, in the late 1970s. Since then it has been kept in a secret place in Baghdad and was protected from looting following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Railway spokesman Karim al-Tamimi said Tuesday that the train was recently moved to Baghdad's main train station.

Iraq's rail system suffers from shortages of carriages and locomotives as a result of years of U.N. economic sanctions and post-war chaos.