# AFRICA | Inter Country Railways



## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

This thread is about rail links between African countries


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

From Rail Journal:



> http://www.railjournal.com/index.ph...-african-standard-gauge-line.html?channel=542
> 
> *Deal signed for East African standard-gauge line*
> Monday, May 12, 2014
> ...


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## Coccodrillo (Sep 30, 2005)

dimlys1994 said:


> This thread is about rail links between African countries


There aren't much.

There are rail links between Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia which are now closed (at least the Moroccan-Algerian one); and Libya planned rail links (now abandoned) to Tunisia and Egypt.

Then there is South African newtwork with links with adjacent countries.

That's all. Most other states have isolated lines (or small groups of lines) linking a mine/city in the interior with a port, or doesn't have railways at all.


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## aquaticko (Mar 15, 2011)

Well, considering the economic growth potential of East African countries in particular(Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania are all doing fairly well), it doesn't hurt to start a thread for what may come in the future.


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## foxmulder (Dec 1, 2007)

This is a good deal for both sides. Win-win.


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## drezdinski (Apr 19, 2013)

Africa gets it's railway and China gets construction contracts plus better distribution of it's goods, which will be exported to Africa.


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## MarcVD (Dec 1, 2008)

There is also the Egypt-Sudan connection using the ferry between Aswan
and Wadi-Halfa. And the Tazara line between Tanzania and Zambia. Zambia
railways also once entered Congo, don't know whether this still exists today.

Regarding this new line, I'm very disappointed that it won't be constructed
using the gauge already used in the area. Using UIC gauge means this line
will forever remain isolated.


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## jonasry (Feb 6, 2011)

Well, it would create a new gauge type in the area. A break-of-gauge in Juba (South Sudan) should be feasible but I agree that integration with the system in Tanzania will be difficult. Tanzania is growing rapidly but there has been no signals of changing gauge, instead it look like the current lines will be upgrades in the next few years.

Personally I'm not sure these types of "grand projects" are the ones giving the best return. I would rather see an upgrade of the current line.


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## eu01 (Oct 14, 2005)

MarcVD said:


> I'm very disappointed that it won't be constructed using the gauge already used in the area. Using UIC gauge means this line will forever remain isolated.


Almost all existing lines need investments anyway. While upgrading, a third rail could be added (resulting in a dual-gauge tracks). Of course it would involve big costs and Africa is too poor for that, at least for now.


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## Augusto (Mar 3, 2005)

Coccodrillo said:


> There aren't much.
> 
> There are rail links between Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia which are now closed (at least the Moroccan-Algerian one); and Libya planned rail links (now abandoned) to Tunisia and Egypt.
> 
> ...


That's not all. 
Dakar-Bamako and Abidjan-Bobo-Ouagadougou lines are not totaly dead. And Conakry could be connected with Bobo in the future thanks to the chinese funds. 
The old Adis Ababa-Djibouti railway build by the French is also being upgraded by the Chinese.


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## jonasry (Feb 6, 2011)

A project that's been under the radar for a while now is the Cotonou-Parakou-Dosso-Niamey rail project. It's standard gauge, under construction and will link Benin with Niger. As I understand it the plan for the near future is to connect Niamey with Burkina Faso also.

There's already traffic on the metre gauge Cotonou-Parakou section, not sure on how the construction will affect it.

Jeune Afrique article: http://www.jeuneafrique.com/actu/20140415T132002Z20140415T131946Z/

Press release from Niger government: http://www.presidence.ne/index.php/...de-chemin-de-fer-niamey-dosso-parakou-cotonou

Further reading: http://www.burkinapmepmi.com/spip.php?article20867











Cotonou railway station, date unknown


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

From Rail Journal:



> http://www.railjournal.com/index.ph...had-to-study-700km-rail-link.html?channel=542
> 
> *Cameroon and Chad to study 700km rail link*
> Monday, June 09, 2014
> ...


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

From Rail Journal:



> http://www.railjournal.com/index.ph...ded-for-uganda-–-rwanda-line.html?channel=542
> 
> *Design contract awarded for Uganda – Rwanda line*
> Tuesday, July 01, 2014
> ...


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## Alpiger (Mar 16, 2007)

http://www.macauhub.com.mo/en/2014/02/24/angola-and-mozambique-to-be-linked-by-rail-soon/

*Angola and Mozambique to be linked by rail soon*

FEBRUARY 24TH, 2014 NEWS

Angola and Mozambique are due soon to be linked by rail following a recent announcement by Zambia of the start of a large rail project, Angolan newspaper Jornal de Angola reported.

The report, which made the newspaper’s front page, noted that Zambia would start building a railroad to link Chingola, in the former copper province, to the Angolan border where it will join up with the Benguela railroad.

“The railway will be built by a partnership between South African group Grindrod and Zambia’s Northwest Rail Company and involves two phases – the first between Chingola and the mines of Kansanshi, Lumwana and Kalumbila, covering 290 kilometres and a second stage that will link the Benguela railroad on the Zambian border with Angola near Jimbe,” Jornal de Angola reported.

The newspaper said that when the project was finished, southern Africa would have a railway line linking the Atlantic Ocean (Angola) to the Indian Ocean (Mozambique).

The aim is to open up a direct corridor as far as Lobito to allow land-locked Zambia to import products such as oil directly from Angola.

On the Angolan side the train has reached as far as Luau, on the border with the democratic Republic of Congo, since December 2013.


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## Alpiger (Mar 16, 2007)

Some interestings PDF's about Africa's railroads

Uns documentos interessantes sobre as ligações ferroviárias em África:

Railway infrastructure in Africa: Time to lay new tracks after a long break?

Zambia: Developing A Railway Strategy


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## x-type (Aug 19, 2005)

there is a rail link between Mali and Senegal


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## Augusto (Mar 3, 2005)

x-type said:


> there is a rail link between Mali and Senegal


Just as I said, Dakar-Bamako. But it desperately needs to be upgraded. Just like the other link build by the French in this area: Abidjan-Ouagadougou.


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## D664 (Dec 17, 2013)

Augusto said:


> Just as I said, Dakar-Bamako. But it desperately needs to be upgraded. Just like the other link build by the French in this area: Abidjan-Ouagadougou.


Do any freight trains still use the Dakar - Bamako railway line? Passenger services were suspended several years ago.


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## jonasry (Feb 6, 2011)

Works on the Cotonou-Niamey railway, connecting landlocked Niger with Benin and later on Burkina Faso, are ongoing. Surpringly... there's is an dedicated webpage to the project (in French): http://www.niger2020.com.

There's even an recent video in English explaining the current status of the project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF4Y0xLGb3A.

Interestingly, each railway station will also functioning as a cultural/educational centre.


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## tjrgx (Oct 12, 2013)

*Linking countries: Mali signs $1.5b rail deal with China Railway Construction*

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1016718...5b-rail-deal-with-china-railway-construction/

BAMAKO: Mali has signed an agreement with China Railway Construction Corporation to renovate a rail line – linking its capital Bamako to the border with neighbouring Senegal – at a cost of $1.486 billion, the West African nation’s transport minister Malick Kasse said on Saturday.

The project is part of a plan to upgrade the ageing 1,200-km (745-mile) railway between Senegal’s coastal capital Dakar and landlocked Mali.

China Railway Construction penned a similar agreement worth $1.26 billion with Senegal on Thursday.

“Work on the Malian section of the project will include upgrading 644km of rail lines and renovating 22 railway stations,” said Mali’s Minister in Charge of Equipment and Transports Mamadou Hachim Koumare, on the state-owned radio.

“This will allow us to have 100 km per hour passenger trains and freight trains of 80 km per hour. Today passenger trains are not even doing 20 km per hour,” he added.

“Once started, work on the project is expected to last four years,” said Kasse.

China Railway Construction Deputy CEO Wei Wanzheng said they would assist Mali in obtaining the financing.


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## tjrgx (Oct 12, 2013)

*La Chine va relier par train Dakar et Bamako*

http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20151224-chine-mali-senegal-gare-train-dakar-bamako

Les Sénégalais pourront-ils, dans quelques années, aller se restaurer au célèbre hôtel Buffet de la Gare de Bamako ? Après des années au ralenti, l’Etat vient de signer un partenariat avec le géant chinois China Railway Construction Corporation International (CRCCI) pour reconstruire entièrement la ligne Dakar-Bamako. Quatre ans de travaux sont prévus, 2000 emplois pourraient être créer au Sénégal.

Six millions de tonnes de marchandises, deux millions de passagers par an. Voilà les objectifs fixés par le gouvernement du Sénégal à l’entreprise chinoise CRCCI, qui a remporté ce gigantesque marché, sans appel à la concurrence.

Mansour Elimane Kane, ministre de Transports, rappelle la nécessité de reconstruire totalement cet axe vital : « La ligne qu’on veut réhabiliter, Dakar-Bamako, a été inaugurée en 1923. Le trafic est réduit à un train tous les trois jours. Aujourd’hui, ce transport se fait par la route. C’est 254 camions par jour sur les routes du Sénégal. »

Le contrat engage les travaux de Dakar à Kidira, juste avant la frontière avec le Mali. L’investissement global est de 754 milliards de francs CFA. 15 % de ce montant sera exécuté par des entreprises du Sénégal, le reste par la Chine. Wai Wanzheng, le directeur général adjoint de la RCCI, se félicite de la signature avec le Sénégal, mais rappelle que le lancement du chantier dépend aussi de la signature avec la partie malienne : « Oui, c’est vrai que c’est lié aussi à la conclusion du contrat avec la partie malienne. Le contrat sera signé très prochainement, peut-être que ce sera la semaine prochaine. On attend juste la confirmation de la partie malienne. »

L’entreprise chinoise souhaite attaquer les travaux de cette ligne Dakar-Bamako dès le début de l’année 2016.


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## tjrgx (Oct 12, 2013)

*Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway Promo with some engineering info*


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## Gadiri (Oct 30, 2009)

*Tazara railway line to be refurbished for cargo transportation*



> Tanzania and Zambia are making plans to revive the TAZARA railway, which covers thousands of kilometers in Eastern and Southern Africa, and was once was the key export route* for Zambia's copper ore. The line was originally built with Chinese help in the 1970s, but over the years it has fallen into disrepai*r.


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## Gadiri (Oct 30, 2009)

Article in french about *6 african corridors *









http://www.jeuneafrique.com/mag/316753/economie/infrastructures-corridors-africains-valent-de-lor/


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## Gadiri (Oct 30, 2009)

*
1 other*


http://www.liberation.fr/planete/2016/01/28/la-bataille-du-rail-africain_1429505


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## Gadiri (Oct 30, 2009)




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## danieltigo (Mar 26, 2014)

Slowly but surely


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## t2contra (Oct 10, 2007)

A faster and more powerful locomotive on the rejuvenated line is going to bring enormous benefits to the landlocked countries in the long run.


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## Gadiri (Oct 30, 2009)

http://www.thehabarinetwork.com/rail-in-ethiopia-riding-high-while-kenya-is-still-lagging-behind/2


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## Gadiri (Oct 30, 2009)

*Track linking Ethiopia to Djibouti sea port to open in October*



> Ethiopia expects to open its standard gauge railway line linking the capital Addis Ababa with the Red Sea state of Djibouti in October 2016. This project is at the heart of plans to create new manufacturing firms in Ethiopia and to boost trade. *The track covers 800 kilometres, and was built by the China Railway Corporation at a cost of $ 3.5 B*. Girum Chala takes a ride on the soon-to-be-operating train


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## Gadiri (Oct 30, 2009)

*TGVM : Train à Grande Vitesse Maghrébin
*




> *TGVM : Train à Grande Vitesse Maghrébin*
> 
> Afin de répondre aux besoins croissants en matière de déplacements, il a été jugé opportun de réaliser une étude de faisabilité technique et économique permettant d'optimiser ce projet.
> A ce titre, et compte tenu des possibilités offertes actuellement par la technique ferroviaire via la grande vitesse, les *temps de parcours qui pourraient être envisagés avec des
> ...




















http://www.ctfm.org.dz/Fr-TGVM.htm


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## Gadiri (Oct 30, 2009)

Last year :



> *15 July 2016 *
> 
> *Discussions start around the rehabilitation and modernisation of the Trans-Maghrebine railway line - Morocco​*
> The The *General Secretariat of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) *has requested expressions of interest for a feasibility study into the rehabilitation and modernization of the Trans- Maghreb iron railway line.
> ...


http://www.railwaysafrica.com/news/...-of-the-trans-maghrebine-railway-line-morocco


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## Gadiri (Oct 30, 2009)

Today :




> *Lancement d'une étude de faisabilité pour la réhabilitation du train trans-maghrébin​*
> 
> Lundi 24 juillet 2017
> 
> ...


https://afrique.medias24.com/MAROC/...-renouvellement-du-train-trans-maghrebin.html



> *Launch of a feasibility study for the rehabilitation of the Trans-Maghreb train*
> 
> 
> 
> ...



For information : border between Morocco and Algeria is closed since 1994.


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## btrs (Jan 24, 2016)

Two news items on the Côte d'Ivoire – Burkina Faso railway, operated by Bolloré Group subsidiary Sitarail:



> *Côte d'Ivoire – Burkina Faso railway upgrade agreement*
> 
> _12 August 2019_
> 
> ...





> *Appenzeller Bahnen to Ouagadougou*
> 
> _9 August 2019_
> 
> ...


Sources:
https://www.railwaygazette.com/infr...-faso-railway-upgrade-agreement/54339.article
https://www.railwaygazette.com/trac...penzeller-bahnen-to-ouagadougou/54338.article

It's interesting to see that western African countries are less prone to Chinese influence, and choose European partners and solutions for their infrastructure needs. It still may be a relic of colonial times I guess ?
About the electric railcars: AFAIK the railway there isn't electrified, so will they only be used as standard pulled cars or were they rebuilt with diesel engines ?


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## Eng.Gat (Oct 20, 2021)

Trans Maghreb Freight Cargo Railway

The Trans Maghreb Freight Cargo Railway is a project, which will speed up in the post covid-19 world.
The IEMed (European Institute of the Mediterranean) has published a new study about the transport in the Mediterranean Region in the Post-Covid-19 Era, emphasizing the necessity to connect the "other" side of the Mediterranean region by railway. These means to reestablish the once existing railway line connecting Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
On the International Railway Congress the project was discussed on 26 and 27 August 2021 in Moscow.
The project has the following parts:

Reestablishing the railway link Tunisia to Algeria using the already existing railway track.
Reestablishing the railway link Morocco to Algeria using the already existing railway track.
Construction of dry ports (container terminals) in all 3 countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia).
The project is supported by European Union, UIC ( Union International de chemin der fer, Paris), the governments of Tunisia and Morocco, the industries of all 3 countries
It will reduce the costs of transports in whole Maghreb (North Africa).
It will reduce Climate change emissions for transport in the whole Maghreb.

IEMed: Mediterranean Transport and Logistics in a Post-Covid-19 Era: Prospects and Opportunities

Download the study of the IEMed about Mediterranean Transport and Logistics in a Post-Covid-19 Era: Prospects and Opportunities










Presentation of Trans Maghreb Cargo Railway 2021


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## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

please follow the stickied guideline at the very top. recommended for new members
we already have a thread for inter-country rail in the African continent


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## Eng.Gat (Oct 20, 2021)

The railway project between Morocco and Algeria shall be constructed as a priority. Both countries would have per years 3% more economic growth, because of growing trade.


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## marokko (Nov 28, 2010)

^^ The Highspeed Magreb railway is a project in the region for decades now. The moroccan, algerian and tunisian forums have sections about this. In the original plan Libya was also part of it. Nowadays there also chances to connect it to egypt and the middle east, because of their major investments in railinfrastructure. In case of normal speed trains, a Maghreb network could be created in one or two years. It just needs to be connected for a few kilometers between each country. 

However the project is quite impossible at the moment until political issues have been solved. Algeri for example closed last months its airspace with Morocco (and France). Tunisia, does not have the finances and is politically not very stable yet. Libya, needs political stability, but have on the long term more than enough financial possibilities to invest in rail. Egypt is investing now havily and wants to make connections, but it wil take a while for them to update and extend their infrastructure. Morocco has closed borders with Algeria unfortunately. 

So now every country here is developing its railinfrastructure seperately. In the meantime they hope for a solution for the Western Sahara issue, before there is real actual political will to connect the countries with each other.


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## Eng.Gat (Oct 20, 2021)

The countries could easily transport containers with the help of the Maghreb Freight Railway. Algeria could use the TangerMed International Port for export to Europe and America.


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## dyonisien (Aug 30, 2010)

Eng.Gat said:


> [...]
> Please create a section within railway section, which is called "Magrheb".
> 
> Under Maghreb will be created two different project:
> ...


The subject is indeed very interesting. BUT are there so many articles that it would be necessary to separate them from "Africa | Inter Country Railways" and from the different Maghreb countries ?


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