Trans-Gabon Railway

Coordinates: 1°37′21.92″S 13°29′21.56″E / 1.6227556°S 13.4893222°E / -1.6227556; 13.4893222
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

1°37′21.92″S 13°29′21.56″E / 1.6227556°S 13.4893222°E / -1.6227556; 13.4893222

Trans-Gabon Railway
standard gauge

The Trans-Gabon Railway (

railway in Gabon. It runs 670 km (420 mi) east from Owendo port station in Libreville to Franceville via numerous stations, the main ones being Ndjolé, Lopé, Booué, Lastoursville and Moanda
.

History

Trans-Gabon Railway
0km
Owendo (Libreville)
35km
Ntoum
57km
Andem
85km
M'Bel
118km
Oyam
148km
Abanga
182km
Ndjolé
202km
Alembe
226km
Otoumbi
244km
Bissouna
267km
Ayem
290km
Lopé
312km
Offoue
338km
Booué
375km
Ivindo
411km
Mouyabi
448km
Milole
484km
Lastoursville
514km
Doume
549km
Lifouta
584km
Mboungou-Mbadouma
619km
Moanda
669km
Franceville

A railway was first planned in 1885. Investigations into the line were conducted in 1968, funding was agreed in 1973, and construction began the following year. The first section, from Owendo to Ndjolé, opened in 1978, with the remaining sections opening in stages until December 1986. Costs were well over budget and almost

bankrupted
the country.

The Trans-Gabon Railway is overall adjacent the

.

The line to Franceville was completed in 1987.[1]

Originally intended to reach

Cableway
was closed.

The railway was

privatised in 1999. Plans regularly surface proposing an extension to Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo
.

Construction and specifications

Because the line was built well into the era of

Impregilo, Astaldi, Philipp Holzmann, Constructions et entreprises industrielles and Entreprise de construction franco-africaine.[2]

The discovery of uranium helped to secure British interest in the project, and led to the injection of funds by the Conservative government under prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Many UK expatriates took the place of French workers and the building of the railway progressed rapidly from that point. Circa May 1983 CCI Eurotrag (a consortium of British, Italian and German interests) took over funding. British firms involved included Wimpey International, who seconded staff to Taylor Woodrow.

The building of the initial 182 kilometres of the line from Owendo to Ndjole took over 10 years to complete. The remaining 400-plus kilometres took only five years.

Recent history

In 2003 Hughes Network Systems (see

Hughes Communications) installed a satellite based telephony system into all the railway stations of the railway.[3]

In June 2006 a new line for iron ore from

This line was supposed to open in 2012, but in 2014 completion is still awaited.

Two EMD JT42CWR locomotives shipped September 2011.[5][6] A further 4 locomotives and 10 passenger coaches were also ordered.[7]

On 18 May 2019 three workers were killed in an accident on the line.[8]

In February 2023

Fortescue Metals Group inked in an agreement to develop iron ore at Belinga
with a road and railway haulage to an existing port.

Network

There are no links with the adjacent states of Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, or the Republic of the Congo. The railway is important for transporting

timber and uranium in addition to being the only important public transport route in the nation. In 1996, the railway carried freight and 190,000 passengers.[9]
The Trans-Gabon Railway, 669 km (416 mi) has 23 stations.

Trivia

See also

References

  1. ^ "Trans-Gabon Railway". Archived from the original on 2008-09-25.
  2. ^ Trans-Gabon Railway Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Gabon Telecom Selects Hughes Network Systems' Satellite Technology to Connect Gabon Railway System", www.redorbit.com, 8 October 2003
  4. ^ China given monopoly to work Gabon's untapped iron ore resources
  5. ^ "LOCOS FOR SETRAG IN GABON", www.railwaysafrica.com, 20 September 2011
  6. ^ "CANADIAN LOCOMOTIVE SHOPS", www.canadianrailwayobservations.com, Class 66s for Gabon, November 2011, archived from the original on 2013-01-18
  7. ^ "SETRAG poursuit son développement", www.eramet-comilog.com (in French), 29 November 2011
  8. ^ article Gabon review, 2019
  9. ^ Janes World Railways 2002-2003

Literature

External links