Camrail is a company operating passenger and freight traffic between the two largest cities in
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
and several smaller cities. The company was formed in 1999 and granted a 20-year concession to operate the
Cameroon National Railway. The company is a
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of French investment group
Bolloré
Bolloré SE () is a French conglomerate headquartered in Puteaux, on the western outskirts of Paris, France. Founded in 1822, the company has interests in Vivendi, international freight forwarding, oil storage and pipelines in France, solid state ...
and the railway has been operated by
Comazar
Comazar is a company that operates railways in Africa. Its stock is majority owned by the French investment group Bolloré.
Comazar was founded by Eric Peiffer and Patrick Claes in conjunction with Transnet (Spoornet) and Transurb Consult (a B ...
, a subsidiary of Bolloré, since 1999. According to the Comazar website, the government of Cameroon owns the
track while the
rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
is owned by Camrail.
According to a report by the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
in 2011, Camrail ranked relatively high amongst African countries for productivity indicators and was considered a regional leader in terms of implementing a concession to a non-state operator. The
2016 Eséka train derailment took place on Camrail tracks and the company was under investigation by the government and was sued by relatives of the 79 passengers who died in the crash.
Services
Passenger
As of May 2014, Camrail operated regular daily services on three routes:
*
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...
–
Kumba
Kumba is a metropolitan city in the Meme department, Southwest Region, Western Cameroon, referred as "K-town" in local slang. Kumba is the most developed and largest city in the Meme Department and has attracted people from the local villag ...
*
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...
–
Yaoundé
Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...
*
Yaoundé
Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...
–
Ngaoundéré
Ngaoundéré, or N'Gaoundéré (Fula: N'gamdere 𞤲'𞤺𞤢𞤥𞤣𞤫𞥅𞤪𞤫𞥅) is the capital of the Adamawa Region of Cameroon. It had a population of 152,700 at the 2005 census. According to the film ''Les Mairuuwas – Maitre de l' ...
Freight
In 2021, the track including bridges are being upgraded to carry increased bauxite traffic from the
Minim, Martap
Minim (or Minim II, or Menim) is a village in the commune of Martap, in the department of Vina, in the Adamawa Region, Cameroon. The village contains Cameroon's main source of bauxite.
Population
In 1967, Minim contained 90 inhabitants, mostly ...
deposits. In the initial stages 5Mt of ore would be carried per annum. A link to the new deepwater port at
Kribi
Kribi is a beach resort and sea port in Cameroon.
Location
The coastal town of Kribi lies on the Gulf of Guinea, in Océan Department, South Province, at the mouth of the Kienké River. This location, lies approximately , by road, south of ...
is anticipated, requiring a link line from
Edéa
Edéa is a city located along the Sanaga River in Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It lies on the Cameroon National Railways Authority, Douala–Yaoundé railway line. Its population was estimated at 122,300 in 2001. Th ...
of about 130 km in length. The mining company concerned is
Canyon Resources.
Camrail and Canyon are co-operating closely.
Characteristics
Gauge
* 1,104 km of
gauge
Gauge ( or ) may refer to:
Measurement
* Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments
* Gauge (firearms)
* Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire
** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, ...
track (1995 est.).
Loading Gauge
* Vertical
* Horizontal
Sleepers
* mainly
concrete sleeper
A concrete sleeper (British English) or concrete tie (American English) is a type of railway sleeper or railroad tie made out of steel reinforced concrete.
History
In 1877, Joseph Monier, a French gardener, suggested that concrete reinforced ...
Axle load
* Stage 1 upgrade to 25T completed in 2019.
Couplers
*
SA3 for locomotive hauled rolling stock
*
Scharfenberg coupler
The Scharfenberg coupler (german: Scharfenbergkupplung, abbreviated ''Schaku'') is a commonly used type of fully automatic railway coupling.
Designed in 1903 by Karl Scharfenberg in Königsberg, Germany (today Kaliningrad, Russia), the coupler ...
for multiple unit passenger trains
Gradients
* 1.6% (1 in 63) in loaded and empty directions.
Crossing Loops
* Average spacing about 40 km.
Bridges
* 13 bridges renewed
Communications
* Fibre optic cable
Colour scheme
* primarily red
* one shunting/branch line loco green and yellow
Rolling stock
*
Locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
s: 50
*
Railroad car
A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a ...
s: 1299
*
DMU ~~
Accidents
On 21 October 2016 at approximately 1100 local time, a
passenger train derailed close to the town of
Eséka
Eséka is a small town in central Cameroon.
Transport
The city of Eséka lies on the main Camrail railway, where the line enters more rugged terrain from the coastal plains.
On 22 October 2016, a passenger train derailed close to the town. ...
. The train, traveling from the capital
Yaoundé
Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...
to the country's main port and economic hub, (
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...
), was crammed with people because of road traffic disruption between the two cities and came off the tracks just before reaching Eséka. Initial reports are over 60 killed with many hundreds injured. The cause of the accident is currently unknown.
Timeline
* Camrail-
Canyon Resources cooperation
Bauxite mining
/ref>
See also
* Camrail locomotive fleet
The Camrail locomotive fleet is a fleet of diesel locomotives operated by Camrail which is the operator for the Cameroon Railway system, which is 1000mm gauge. Not all locomotives in a class remain in service; some locomotives have been on loan.
...
References
{{reflist
External links
Camrail homepage
Map of railways in Cameroon
Transport companies of Cameroon
Rail transport in Cameroon
Railway companies of Cameroon
Companies based in Douala