The Congo–Ocean Railway (COR; , ) links the Atlantic port of
Pointe-Noire
Pointe-Noire (; , with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department and a commune since the 2002 Constitution. B ...
(now in the
Republic of Congo
The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...
) with
Brazzaville
Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...
, a distance of . It bypasses the rapids on the lower
Congo River
The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...
; from
Brazzaville
Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...
, river boats are able to ascend the Congo River and its major tributaries, including the
Oubangui River to
Bangui
Bangui (; or Bangî in Sango language, Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in the Central African Republic, largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a Fren ...
.
the railroad was regularly operating freight and passenger services along the length of the line despite the poor state of the track.
A luxury passenger train,
''La Gazelle'', using Korean-manufactured passenger cars, was introduced in 2012; as of 2014 it operated between
Pointe-Noire
Pointe-Noire (; , with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department and a commune since the 2002 Constitution. B ...
and
Brazzaville
Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...
every other day, and was scheduled to take 14–16 hours to complete the journey.
History

Under French colonial administration, in 1921 they contracted
Société de Construction des Batignolles
The Société de Construction des Batignolles was a civil engineering company of France created in 1871 as a public limited company from the 1846 limited partnership of ''Ernest Gouin et Cie.''. Initially founded to construct locomotives, the com ...
to construct the railway using
forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
, recruited from what is now southern
Chad
Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
and the
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...
. Like Spain and Portugal, France did not ratify the
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...
Forced Labour Convention of 1930, No. 29. Disdain among the native population towards this conscripted labour and other forms of oppression led to the
Kongo-Wara rebellion between 1928 and 1931.
Through the period of construction until 1934 there was a continual heavy cost in human lives, with total deaths estimated in excess of 17,000 of the construction workers, from a combination of both industrial accidents and diseases including
malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
. In 1946, France ratified the Forced Labour Convention, in light of a permanent state of emergency, due to indigenous revolt.
In 1962, a branch was constructed to
Mbinda
Mbinda is a village in the Republic of Congo, lying on the border with Gabon. It is the administrative seat of the Mbinda District.
The village is a transport hub and lies at the end of a railway line to Brazzaville.
Overview
The town prospered ...
near the border with
Gabon
Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...
, to connect with the
COMILOG Cableway
The COMILOG Cableway was one of the longest cableways in the world, until its closure in 1986. The ropeway conveyor ran for 76 km from Moanda in the Haut-Ogooué Province of south eastern Gabon to Mbinda in the Republic of Congo.
In 1954, th ...
and thus carry
manganese
Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...
ore to Pointe-Noire. The Cableway closed in 1986 when neighbouring
Gabon
Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...
built its own railway to haul this traffic. The branch line remains active nonetheless.
The Congo–Ocean Railway was a user of the
Golwé locomotive. Motive power is now provided by diesel locomotives.
From the start of the
civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
in 1997, the line was closed for six years.
Operations restarted in 2004, but in August 2007
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
reported that COR was in a "decrepit state, with the majority of trains now broken", after
UNICEF
UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
had organised a train to distribute malaria nets. In 2007, a
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
n-led consortium CMKC Group signed a deal to build railway extensions to
Ouesso and
Djambala
Djambala is a town and a commune, administrative center of Djambala District and of Plateaux Department in the Republic of Congo. Located near the Léfini Faunal Reserve, Djambala had a population of 24,734 in 2023, the date of the country's l ...
mainly for timber traffic.
On 21 June 2010, a train of the Congo–Ocean Railroad
was involved in a major accident, in which at least 60 people were killed. The train is believed to have derailed as it went round a curve in a remote area between
Bilinga and
Tchitondi, throwing four carriages into a ravine. The dead and wounded were taken to hospitals and morgues in Pointe-Noire.
In 2011, it was announced that Africa Iron Ore Ltd was close to concluding a 25-year ore transport deal with Congo–Ocean. In early 2015 the Congo–Ocean Railway purchased ten locomotives from
Electro-Motive Diesel
Electro-Motive Diesel (abbreviated EMD) is a brand of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. Formerly a division of General Motors, EMD has been owned by Progress Rail since 2010.
Electro-Motive ...
in
Muncie, Indiana
Muncie ( ) is a city in Delaware County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It is located in East Central Indiana about northeast of Indianapolis. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 65,195, down from 70,085 in the 2010 c ...
. They were put into service by the summer of 2015.
In 2021 a proposal was announced for a
Mayoko and
Niari
Niari are a caste in Odisha. They are similar to the Dewar caste, and belong to the Sebc category.
History
The Niari have a history of being unemployed and poor, and alongside a few other castes, mostly adopted the profession of preparing fla ...
to
Pointe-Noire
Pointe-Noire (; , with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department and a commune since the 2002 Constitution. B ...
railway made for the transport of iron ore.
Stations served
Specifications
The line includes the
Bamba tunnel and 14 large reinforced concrete viaducts. The steepest eastbound gradients are 1 in 67 (1.5%), the steepest westbound 1 in 50 (2.0%). The initial locomotives were
2-8-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wh ...
tender and articulated tank engines with six driving axles. There were also 2 4-wheel petrol cars for engineers and an 18-passenger
Micheline and another Micheline for the Governor General.
*
Track gauge
In rail transport, track gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many different track gauges ...
: gauge
*
Brake (railway)
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 ...
:
Vacuum brake
The vacuum brake is a brake, braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in countries influenced by British practice. Va ...
*
Coupler:
SA3 coupler
SA3 couplers (also known as СА3 or СА-3 couplers per the typical foundry stamp on top of these couplers, meaning "Советская Автосцепка, 3" in Russian or "Soviet Auto-latch 3" in English) or Willison coupler and Russia ...
Operations
The COR is a state-owned enterprise whose privatization was planned as part of the commitments made by the Congolese government to the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
and the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
. Among the candidates were several consortia, including Congo-Rail (
Bolloré Investments,
Maersk
(), usually known simply as Maersk ( ), is a Danish Freight transport, shipping and logistics company founded in 1904 by Arnold Peter Møller and his father Peter Mærsk Møller.
Maersk's business activities include Port operator, port operat ...
,
SNCF
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
), and the South African consortium Sheltam Mvela.
Railway links to adjacent countries
*
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
– no – same gauge – proposed road-rail bridge.
*
Angola (Cabinda) – no lines in Cabinda – same gauge as mainland Angola
*
Gabon
Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...
– no –
break of gauge
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and railroad car, rolling stock g ...
/
*
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
– no – break of gauge /
*
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...
– no – no railways
Cities served by rail
In the media
In 2012, the Congo–Ocean Railway was featured in an episode of the television series
Chris Tarrant
Christopher John Tarrant (born 10 October 1946) is a retired English broadcaster, television personality, radio DJ and stand up comedian. He is best known for presenting the ITV children's television show '' Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and th ...
: Extreme Railways.
See also
*
Congo Railway
Congo or The Congo may refer to:
* Congo River, in central Africa
* Congo Basin, the sedimentary basin of the river
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, sometimes referred to as "Congo-Kinshasa"
* Republic of ...
*
Matadi-Kinshasa Railway in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
.
*
Railway stations in Congo
Railway stations in the Republic of the Congo (Congo) include:
Maps
image:congo republic sm04.png, Map of the Republic of the Congo
UN MapUNHCR Atlas MapReliefWebUNJLC Rail map of Southern Africa** misses line to Franceville
Stations served ...
*
List of countries by rail transport network size
This is a sortable list of countries by rail transport network size based on length of rail lines.
Definition
For the purposes of this page, railway has been defined as a fixed route laid with rails along which wagons can be transported. Wago ...
*
Transport in the Republic of the Congo
Transport in the Republic of Congo includes land, air and water modes. Over of paved roads are in use. The two international airports are Maya-Maya Airport and Pointe Noire Airport.
The country also has a large port on the Atlantic Ocean at P ...
References
Further reading
* Daughton, J. P. (2021).
In the Forest of No Joy: The Cong-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism''
*
*
*
External links
*
*A 2021 book, ''In the Forest of No Joy: The Congo-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism'' by J. P. Daughton (Norton, 384 pp), describes the gruesome toll taken on the African laborers who built the railroad in the 1920s and 30s. A brief review in ''The New Yorker'' notes that although the project "was championed as key to local development," over 20 000 of them "perished of starvation, disease, or physical abuse. Mostly forced laborers, they toiled without machinery, clearing forests by hand and turning rocks into gravel with hammers."
Publisher: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393541014
*
Maps
UN Mapreliefweb.int
UNJLC Rail map of Southern Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Congo-Ocean Railway
French Equatorial Africa
Geography of Brazzaville
Pointe-Noire
3 ft 6 in gauge railways in the Republic of the Congo
Rail transport in the Republic of the Congo
1930s establishments in French Equatorial Africa