The Mediterranean-Niger-Railway (MN) (French: ''Chemins de Fer de la Méditerranée au Niger'') was a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in Western

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. The Mediterranean-Niger Railway was built between the

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

region near Bou Arfa in the east of Morocco and the Algerian rail system at

Oujda Oujda (, ) is a major city in northeast Morocco near the Algeria–Morocco border, border with Algeria. Oujda is the capital city of the Oriental (Morocco), Oriental region of northeastern Morocco and has a population of 506,224 people (2024 censu ...

, completed as a

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 in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

route between

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

and Oujda in 1922, while Fes was reached in 1934. In 1940/41, construction was begun on the Algerian segment of the Mediterranean-Niger-Railway as part of the Trans-Saharan Railway. The line made a connection with the Moroccan segment, which had been completed in 1931, at Bou Arfa and continued into Algeria to connect with the narrow gauge line

- Colomb-Béchar built in 1910. In 1963, Morocco nationalized its railroad system under the name of Moroccan Railways (''Office National des Chemins de Fer du Maroc''

ONCF ONCF (from French: ''Office National des Chemins de Fer''; ''al-Maktab al-Waṭaniyy lis-Sikak al-Ḥadīdiyyah''; ''Moroccan National Railways Office'') is Morocco's national railway operator. ONCF is a state-owned company that is under the c ...

). MN was liquidated. The part of MN from the Southern border to Colomb-Béchar was closed. Colomb-Béchar was still reached by the narrow gauge line.

References

* Bejui, Dominique and Pascal: ''Exploits et fantasmes transsahariens : 80 ans de traversées sahariennes abouties ou rêvées en auto, en camion, en train et en avion''. Chanac: La Regordane, 1994. * Guide Michelin, 1956. * Lartilleux: ''Géographie des chemins de fer français''. vol. 3. Chaix, 1949. * Pottier, René: ''Le Transsaharien - Liaison d'Empire''. Sorlot, 1941.
Georges Bouchet: Les voies ferrées de pénétration sahariennes hors Algérie : Le Transsaharien

* ttp://archives.cnd.hcp.ma/uploads/news/017211.pdf Le Transsaharrien {{DEFAULTSORT:Mediterranean-Niger Railway Railway lines in Algeria Railway lines in Morocco History of rail transport in Morocco Standard-gauge railways in Algeria Standard-gauge railways in Morocco