The Mediterranean-Niger-Railway (MN) (French: ''Chemins de Fer de la Méditerranée au Niger'') was a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in Western

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The Mediterranean-Niger Railway was built between the

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

region near Bou Arfa in the east of Morocco and the Algerian rail system at

Oujda Oujda ( ar, وجدة; ber, ⵡⵓⵊⴷⴰ, Wujda) is a major Moroccan city in its northeast near the border with Algeria. Oujda is the capital city of the Oriental region of northeastern Morocco and has a population of about 558,000 people. It ...

, completed as a

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

route between

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

and Oujda in 1922, while

Fes Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...

was reached in 1934. In 1940/41 construction was begun on the Algerian segment of the Mediterranean-Niger-Railway as part of the

Trans-Saharan Railway The Trans-Saharan Railway was a project conducted by France to build a rail line south through Algeria to sub-Saharan Africa. Its original intended use was to connect coal mines and boost trade throughout North Africa, tie together the French Emp ...

. The line made a connection with the Moroccan segment, which had been completed in 1931, at Bou Arfa and continued into Algeria to connect with the narrow gauge line

- Colomb-Béchar built in 1910. In 1963 Morocco nationalized its railroad system under the name of Moroccan Railways (''Office National des Chemins de Fer du Maroc''

ONCF ONCF (from French: ''Office National des Chemins de Fer''; ar, المكتب الوطني للسكك الحديدية ''Al-Maktab al-Waṭaniy lil-Sikak al-Ḥadīdiyyah''; ''Moroccan National Railways Office'') is Morocco's national railway ope ...

). MN was liquidated. The part of MN from the Southern border to Colomb-Béchar was closed. Colomb-Béchar was still reached by the narrow gauge line.

References

* Bejui, Dominique und Pascal: ''Exploits et fantasmes transsahariens : 80 ans de traversées sahariennes abouties ou rêvées en auto, en camion, en train et en avion''. Chanac: La Regordane, 1994. * Guide Michelin, 1956. * Lartilleux: ''Géographie des chemins de fer français''. vol. 3. Chaix, 1949. * Pottier, René: ''Le Transsaharien - Liaison d'Empire''. Sorlot, 1941.
Georges Bouchet: Les voies ferrées de pénétration sahariennes hors Algérie : Le Transsaharien

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mediterranean-Niger Railway Railway lines in Algeria Railway lines in Morocco History of rail transport in Morocco Standard gauge railways in Africa