The Lomé–Kpalimé railway was the second railway line built in today's

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

. It was also called ' or ' (cocoa railway).

History

The railway line was built during the German

colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

. Planning started in 1902, and construction began in 1904. Construction was financed through a 7.8 million Mark loan to the protectorate, with an interest rate of 3.5%. The german company '' Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg'' was entrusted with the construction and the operation left to ' Noepe was reached in 1905; Kpalimé was reached in 1907. The line opened on 27 January 1907, the birthday of

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

. It was built in

meter gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

, had a length of and was accompanied by a

telephone line A telephone line or telephone circuit (or just line or circuit industrywide) is a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system. It is designed to reproduce speech of a quality that is understandable. It is the physical wire or oth ...

. The

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

s were equipped with

signals A signal is both the process and the result of Signal transmission, transmission of data over some transmission media, media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processin ...

to ring bells. The line used the station at

Lomé Lomé ( , ) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Togo, largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

of the

Lomé–Aného railway The Lomé–Aného railway was the first Rail transport, railway in the German colonial empire, German protectorate of Togoland. Over a length of 44 kilometers, it connected the administrative center of Lomé with the coastal town of Aného. Coll ...

as a terminus. Besides the transport of cocoa, the line also served as transportation method for

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms, called oil palms, containing two species, native to Africa and the Americas. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. Description Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can gro ...

products. From 1 April 1908, both lines were leased to the ' (German colonial railway construction- and operation company; DKEBBG), which operated through trains running over both lines. Togo was split between the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, with the whole railway network located in the part of the country now handled by France as a

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

mandate Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also r ...

. During the period of military occupation until 1922, the railway was operated under the Togoland Military Railway (TMR) name, with operations handled by Gold Coast Government Railways, the railway of the neighboring Gold Coast. Only then, from 1922, the railway received its

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

name ' (CFT). Since it was only a mandate area whose allocation to France under

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

did not appear to be permanently secured, France also held back with investments in the railways in Togo. The line continued to operate after Togo gained independence.

References

Literature

* Helmut Schroeter: ''Die Eisenbahnen der ehemaligen deutschen Schutzgebiete Afrikas und ihre Fahrzeuge''. Frankfurt 1961. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lome-Kpalime railway Metre-gauge railways in Togo Maritime Region, Togo Plateaux Region, Togo

History

See also

References

Literature