The Moçâmedes Railway ( pt, Caminho de Ferro de Moçâmedes (CFM)) is an 860 km railway line in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, between

Moçâmedes Moçâmedes is a city in southwestern Angola, capital of Namibe Province. The city's current population is 255,000 (2014 census). Founded in 1840 by the Portuguese colonial administration, the city was named Namibe between 1985 and 2016. Moç� ...

and

Menongue Menongue, formerly Serpa Pinto, is a town, a municipality, and the capital of Cuando Cubango Province in Angola. The municipality had a population of 320,914 in 2014. It is one of the four municipalities in Angola whose inhabitants are predominan ...

. The line is operated by the company Caminhos de Ferro de Moçâmedes E.P. The port city of Moçâmedes was renamed Namibe between 1985 and 2016, so the railway was sometimes called the ''Namibe Railway'' ( pt, Caminho de Ferro do Namibe). However, the railway company retained its original legal name. Its cargo flow point is made through the

port of Namibe The port of Namibe, or port of Moçâmedes, is an Angolan port located in the city of Moçâmedes, in the province of Namibe. It is built on the banks of the bay of Namibe, a coastal indentation linked to the Atlantic Ocean. The port belongs to ...

History

Construction began on the railway in 1905, when Angola was a Portuguese colony. The railway was opened to traffic in 1910, and continued to be extended inland until it reached its current terminus at

(formerly Serpa Pinto) in December 1961. The line was originally built with

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 ...

track, but it was re-gauged to Cape gauge in 1950, matching the gauge of other lines in Angola and southern Africa. After Angola obtained its independence from Portugal in 1975, the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...

broke out, resulting in the destruction of most of Angola's railway infrastructure. When the fighting ended in 2002, the Angolan government sought to restore rail service. The China Hyway Group rebuilt the Moçâmedes Railway between 2006 and 2015. The railway is expected to serve mines at

Chamutete Chamutete is a town in southern Angola. Chamutete is also spelled Techamutete. It lies in Huíla Province. Transport It is currently terminus for a branch railway from Dongo on the Southern Railway system. In 2007, talks between Angola and ...

and

Cassinga Cassinga or Kassinga is a town and commune in the municipality of Jamba, province of Huíla, Angola. It is situated on an old and important two-track road from Jamba to Huambo. Established as an ore mine and during the Civil War allegedly u ...

References

600 mm gauge railways in Angola Railway companies established in 1905 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Angola Railway lines in Angola 1905 establishments in the Portuguese Empire {{Africa-rail-transport-stub

History

See also

References