Train en circulation dans un quartier de Douala

Rail transport in Cameroon is primarily operated by Camrail, a subsidiary of

Bolloré Africa Logistics 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 ...

History

In January 2022, it was announced that container shipping company MSC would take over Bolloré Africa Logistics, the parent company of Camrail. It is uncertain whether MSC, which has an annual turnover of around €30 billion, will maintain passenger transport on Cameroon's railways or prioritise the movement of its own containers. The development contrasts with the railways of neighbouring Nigeria, where passenger transport is making a profit and freight transport is in decline. Gare de Bessengué 2

Infrastructure

Separate from the

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, ...

mainlines were

narrow gauge 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 structu ...

plantation railways, especially in the

Tiko Tiko, originally called ‘Keka’ by the Bakweris, is a town and important port in the southwest region of Cameroon. The settlement grew as a market town for Duala (or Douala) fishermen, Bakweri (Kpwe people) farmers and hunters from Molyko ...

area. These served cocoa and sugar plantations.

Possible extensions

There are plans for an

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

railway, which however might be isolated from existing railways. The distance from the mine to the nearest likely port is about 500 km. A connection to the nearest Camrail line at

Mbalmayo Mbalmayo is a town in Cameroon's Centre Region. The town had 60,091 inhabitants in 2012. It is the capital of the Nyong-et-So'o Division It is located at the banks of the Nyong river between Ebolowa and Yaoundé. It is an agricultural centre ...

on the

Nyong River The Nyong (formerly german: Yong) is a river in Cameroon. The river flows approximately to empty into the Gulf of Guinea. Course The Nyong originates east of the town of Abong-Mbang, where the northern rain forest feeds it. The river's lengt ...

would be 350 km long. Because of the heavy tonnages to be carried, this railway is likely to be (

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 E ...

). The railway would run from mines near

Mbalam Mbalam is a place in Cameroon near the southern border with the Republic of the Congo where there are significant deposits of iron ore. The mining company is Sundance Resources Limited. Namesakes There are two other places in Cameroon with ...

to a new port near

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 o ...

. The expected traffic is 35 million tonnes per year for 25 years. Extensions of the rail network to

Maroua Maroua (Fula: Marwa 𞤥𞤢𞤪𞤱𞤢) is the capital of the Far North Region of Cameroon, stretching along the banks of the Ferngo and Kaliao Rivers, in the foothills of the Mandara Mountains. The city had 301,371 inhabitants at the 2005 ...

and

Yokadouma Yokadouma is a town and Catholic bishopric in eastern Cameroon, lying near the border with the Central African Republic. It was an early French administrative centre. During the colonial period, Yokadouma was the centre for a widespread but ill-f ...

to promote the forestry industry have also been recommended. In December 2010, it was reported that a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n consortium planned to build new railways in Cameroon.

Adjacent countries

There are no links yet to railways in adjoining countries. The nearest the Nigerian railway system () approaches Cameroon is

Maiduguri Maiduguri is the capital and the largest city of Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria. The city sits along the seasonal Ngadda River which disappears into the ''Firki'' swamps in the areas around Lake Chad. Maiduguri was founded in 1907 as a mi ...

over 100 km from the northern Cameroon border. The Gabon rail system (1,435 mm 4ft 8.5in) and Congolese rail systems gauge do not run near to the Cameroonian border. In 2011 funding for construction of a standard gauge railway line in

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

was obtained; the construction would include a line to

Moundou Moundou () is the second largest city in Chad and is the capital of the region of Logone Occidental. The city lies on the Mbéré River (a tributary of the Western Logone) some 475 kilometres south of the capital N'Djamena. It is the main cit ...

and

Koutéré Koutéré ( ar, كوتيري) is a small town in Chad on the border with Cameroon. Transport A standard gauge railway in Chad is proposed to cross the border at or near this town. In 2020, the Central African Economic and Monetary Community ( ...

near the Cameroon border, as well as a link to

Nyala The lowland nyala or simply nyala (''Tragelaphus angasii'') is a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus ''Tragelaphus'', previously placed in genus ''Nyala''. It was first described in ...

on the border with Sudan.

Rolling stock

Standards

* Brakes: Westinghouse Air * Couplings: SA3

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rail Transport in Cameroon Metre gauge railways in Cameroon