History of rail transport in Burundi
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The history of rail transport in Burundi is limited to a now closed industrial railway, and a number of proposed railway projects that, , had not been implemented.


Port of Bujumbura railway

From 1947 to 1982, there was a narrow gauge industrial railway within the boundaries of the port of
Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's normal capital. In late ...
on
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. ...
. The railway carried only goods traffic. Its operator was ''Office Congolais des Chemins des fer des Grands Lacs'' (CFL).


Proposed railways

Since around the turn of the 21st century, there have been several proposals for a railway between Burundi and nearby countries. The existing railway networks in nearby Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania use
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, la ...
, although TAZARA and other nearby countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) use the gauge leading to some potential difficulties. As early as the 1980s, the Kagera Basin Organization carried out economic feasibility studies into a would-be KBO railway system linking Burundi,
Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
and the (DRC), but that proposed system never came to fruition. In 2000, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) launched the Great Lakes railway project involving both rail and water transport on Lakes Tanganyika, Kivu, and
Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
connecting Burundi, the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia. The aim of that project was to improve connections between the Great Lakes and the southern African rail network. As with the would-be KBO railway system, the COMESA proposal was not implemented. By 2004, the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority, based in Mombasa, Kenya, was promoting a project to link Kisangani with Mombasa using a new line from Kasese to Kisangani, with feeder lines linking Kasese with Goma and then via Bukavu to Kigali and Bujumbura. At a meeting in August 2006 with members of the
Rwanda Patriotic Front The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi, french: Front patriotique rwandais, FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame, the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces, win ...
, Chinese diplomat
Wu Guanzheng Wu Guanzheng (born August 11, 1938), also spelled as Wu Kuan-cheng is a former Chinese politician and one of the major leaders of the Chinese Communist Party during the administration of Hu Jintao. He served on the Politburo Standing Committee ...
confirmed the intention of the People's Republic of China to fund a study into the feasibility of constructing a railway connecting at Isaka with the existing metre gauge Tanzanian railway network, and running via
Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...
in
Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
through to Burundi. In January 2022, the governments of Burundi and Tanzania announced the planned construction of an electrified
standard gauge railway 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 ...
, which will link the two countries. The line is known as the Tanzania–Burundi Standard Gauge Railway.


See also

* History of rail transport * History of Burundi * Transport in Burundi


References


External links


UN Map of Rwanda

UN Map of Burundi
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Rail Transport In Burundi
Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
Rail Transport in Burundi