Rail transport in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

is primarily operated by

Madarail The government of Madagascar has granted Madarail a 25-year concession to operate the northern of the two national rail lines. The company is investing in Madagascar's rail system. Operations began in 2003 with one locomotive; 7 more locomotiv ...

. There are two unconnected systems having a total length of , as of 2006, all metre gauge, . The northern railway (TCE, Tananarive–Côte Est) is currently concessioned to Maragall. The southern line, Fianarantsoa-Côte-Est railway (FCE), is a

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

(state owned) line.

History

Construction started in 1901 on the Madagascar Railway (Le Chemin-de-Fer de Madagascar) from

Tananarive Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "A ...

to Ambatolampy. The full line was completed from Tananarive to Antsirabe in 1923.

Operations

There is a regular (at least daily) goods traffic between the port city of

Toamasina Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...

and the capital city of

Antananarivo Antananarivo (French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("An ...

. There are daily passenger trains on the Madarail system. Very occasionally there are special chartered trips on restored Micheline railcars for tourists. The southern line has a regular daily passenger train, which provides a slow but picturesque alternative to the recently rehabilitated road in the region.

Interfaces

Continuous Brakes A railway brake is a type of brake used on the cars of railway trains to enable deceleration, control acceleration (downhill) or to keep them immobile when parked. While the basic principle is similar to that on road vehicle usage, operational f ...

: Air/Vacuum/Unbraked ? * Couplers: Centre buffer and two side hooks and chains. RailwaysAfrica 1/2008 FCover

Cities served by rail

- national capital *

- chief seaport

Expansion plans

Talks are going for extending Madagascar Railway operated by

. The Malagasy Government signed a pact with

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

South African Railways Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...

to extend their railway services up to

Antsiranana Antsiranana ( mg, Antsiran̈ana ), named Diego-Suárez prior to 1975, is a city in the far north of Madagascar. Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region. It had an estimated population of 115,015 in 2013. History The bay and city originally u ...

Antalaha Antalaha is an urban municipality in northern Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Antalaha, which is a part of Sava Region. The population of Antalaha was 67.888 in 2018. Antalaha has a maritime harbour. A local airport serves Antalaha. ...

Andapa Andapa is a town and commune ( mg, firaisana) in northern Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Andapa, which is a part of Sava Region. According to 2001 commune census the population of Andapa was 27,618. Andapa is served by a local airpor ...

in the north, up to Mahajanga &

Maintirano Maintirano is a coastal city, commune urbaine (urban municipality), ( mg, kaominina) and Catholic bishopric in western Madagascar approximately 325 kilometres west of the capital Antananarivo. It belongs to the district of Maintirano, which is a ...

in the west. Again southwest, south & southeastern extension of Fianarantsoa -

Manakara Manakara is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital Fitovinany Region and of the district of Manakara Atsimo. The city is located at the east coast near the mouth of the Manakara River and has a small port. The bridge over the Manakara River ...

Railway Line up to Morondova,

Morombe Morombe is an urban municipality (commune urbaine) on the south-west coast in Atsimo-Andrefana, Madagascar. It can be reached by the National road 55 or pirogue from Morondava. It is situated at 283 km from Tulear. An airport serves the town ...

Toliara Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name was adopted ...

Tolanaro Fort-Dauphin (Malagasy Tolagnaro or Taolagnaro) is a city (''commune urbaine'') on the southeast coast of Madagascar. It is the capital of the Anosy Region and of the Taolagnaro District. It has been a port of local importance since the early 150 ...

is being planned. After extension, the length of the Madagascar Railway operated by Madarail will stand at connecting all of Madagascar.

References

Notes

External links

UN map
* Interactive map of Madagascar railway system {{DEFAULTSORT:Rail Transport In Madagascar