The Kivu Railway (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: Chemins de fer du Kivu) was a long

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

with a gauge of from Kalundu to Kamaniola in the

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

, which operated from 1931 to 1958.Ferdinand Lebbe
''Au fil du rail'', XXV. – L’histoire des chemins de fer au Congo
1950 (French)

History

The privately owned ''Comité national du Kivu'' (C.N.Ki) decided in 1928 to build a connection between Uviara at the northern end of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...

to Bukavu (Costermansville) at the southern end of Lake Kivu. The ''Compagnie des Chemins de fer du Kivu'' (C.E.F.A.K.I.) was established on 20 June 1929. It obtained the concession according to a decree of the

Belgian Chamber of Representatives The Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: , french: link=no, Chambre des représentants, german: link=no, Abgeordnetenkammer) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered ...

on 1 March 1930, which became ratified on 23 April 1930. C.E.F.A.K.I. was integrated into the ''Office des Transports Coloniaux'' (OTRACO) on 24 July 1946. The track was built by the ''Compagnie Belge des Chemin de fer et d'Entreprise'' (C.F.E.) and its first section from Kalundu to Kamanyola was inaugurated on 21 November 1931.André Lederer
''Les belges à l'étranger''
(French) There were plans to integrate the track into the Cape to Cairo Railway. However, the plans to extend the railway from Kamaniola to

Costermansville Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pro ...

did not get realized due to the comparatively high cost. Passenger traffic ceased on 1 July 1958 and goods traffic on 1 December 1958.

Rolling stock

The rolling stock consisted of :Jean Herreweghe
''Les Congolâtres: La Société des Chemins de Fer du Kivu (C.E.F.A.K.I.)''
(French) * 2 steam locomotives

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(

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheel ...

) with 32 t each * 2 diesel locomotives with 27 t and 190 PS each, which were commissioned in 1949 * 2 Davenport diesel locomotives, which were commissioned in 1950 * 2 shunting steam engines with 22 t each * 88 waggons

Traffic

The traffic in the early 1950s was as follows:

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Democratic Republic of the Congo Metre gauge railways in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Railway lines opened in 1931 Railway lines closed in 1958 Railway lines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1931 establishments in the Belgian Congo