The Congo–Ocean Railway (COR; French: Chemin de fer Congo-Océan, CFCO) links the Atlantic port of Pointe-Noire (now in the Republic of Congo) with Brazzaville, a distance of 502 kilometres (312 mi). It bypasses the rapids on the lower Congo River; from Brazzaville, river boats are able to ascend the Congo River and its major tributaries, including the Oubangui River to Bangui.

Congo-Ocean Railway line
Overview
StatusOperational
LocalePointe Noire, Bouenza, Kouilou, Niari, Pool, Lékoumou
Termini
Stations49
Service
SystemNon-Electrified
ServicesVia Dolisie
History
Opened1934
Technical
Line length512 km (318 mi)
Number of tracks1
CharacterAt-grade
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
ElectrificationNo
Operating speed40 kilometres per hour (25 mph)
Route map

As of 2012 the railroad was regularly operating freight and passenger services along the length of the line despite the poor state of the track.[1] A luxury passenger train, La Gazelle, using Korean-manufactured passenger cars, was introduced in 2012; as of 2014 it operated between Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville every other day, and was scheduled to take 14–16 hours to complete the 502 kilometres (312 mi) journey.[2]

History

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Mayumbe cutting, 1930
 
Forced labour family camp, located near Les Saras, during construction in 1930
 
Brazzaville station, 1932

Under French colonial administration, in 1921 they contracted Société de Construction des Batignolles to construct the railway using forced labour, recruited from what is now southern Chad and the Central African Republic. Like Spain and Portugal, France did not ratify the International Labour Organization Forced Labour Convention of 1930, No. 29.[3] Disdain among the native population towards this conscripted labour and other forms of oppression led to the Kongo-Wara rebellion between 1928 and 1931.[4] 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.[5] 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 near the border with Gabon, to connect with the COMILOG Cableway and thus carry manganese ore to Pointe-Noire. The Cableway closed in 1986 when neighbouring Gabon 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 in 1997, the line was closed for six years.[citation needed]

Operations restarted in 2004, but in August 2007 BBC News reported that COR was in a "decrepit state, with the majority of trains now broken", after UNICEF had organised a train to distribute malaria nets.[6] In 2007, a Korean-led consortium CMKC Group signed a deal to build railway extensions to Ouesso and Djambala mainly for timber traffic.[7]

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 was close to concluding a 25-year ore transport deal with Congo–Ocean.[8] In early 2015 the Congo–Ocean Railway purchased 10 EMD GT38AC locomotives from Electro-Motive Diesel in Muncie, Indiana. They were put into service by the summer of 2015.[9]

In 2021 a proposal was announced for a Mayoko & Niari - Pointe-Noire railway for iron ore traffic.[10]

Stations served

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Congo–Ocean Railway
Chemin de fer Congo-Océan
Technical
Line length512 km / 318 mi
Track gauge1067 mm / 3 ft 6 in
Route map

 
 
 
512 km
Brazzaville
 
Kikembo
 
Ngoma-Tse-Tse
 
Mayogongo
 
Kibouende
 
Ngabouloumou
 
Madza
 
Matoumbou
 
Loualou
 
Massembo-Loubaki
 
Missafou
 
Mindouli
 
Kingoyi
 
Kikembo
 
Loulombo
 
Kimbedi
 
Loutété
 
Bouansa
 
Kipambou-Kayes
 
Madingou
 
Kimbaouka
 
Bodissa
 
Nkayi
 
Moutela
 
Loudima
 
 
 
285 km
Mbinda
 
 
(Comilog-Line)
 
0 km
? km
Mont Bélo
 
Moubotsi
 
Tao-Tao
 
? km
91 km
Loubomo (Dolisie)
 
 
 
 
Moukondo
 
 
Mvouti
 
 
Mpounga
 
 
Malemba
 
 
Les Saras
 
 
Mfoubou
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mvoungouti
 
 
Nzombo
 
 
Tsessi
 
 
Tsoumbou
 
 
Nemba
 
 
Nkougni
 
 
 
? km
0 km
Bilinga
 
Yanga
 
 
Mboukou
 
Makola
 
Hinda
 
Ntombo
 
Ngondji
 
 
0 km
Pointe-Noire
COMILOG-Line
Technical
Line length285 km / 177 mi
Track gauge1067 mm / 3 ft 6 in
Route map

 
 
285 km
Mbinda
 
Ngongo
 
Mayoko
 
Tsinguidi
 
Mbaka
 
Vouka
 
Nzima
 
Moungoundou
 
Moutebe
 
Mossendjo
 
Boungoto
 
Massanga
 
Tsimba
 
Itsotso
 
Titi
 
Mabafi
 
Mahitoula
 
106 km
PK 106
 
Boudanga
 
Makabana
 
Moukanga
 
Diesse
 
Sinda
 
Mouindi
 
Kibouba
 
 
 
512 km
Brazzaville
 
 
Loutété
 
 
(Congo-Ocean)
 
0 km
 
Mont Bélo
 
 
0 km
Pointe-Noire
1 m[11]

Specifications

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The line includes the 1,690-metre (1,850 yd) 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 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.[12]

Operations

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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 and the International Monetary Fund. Among the candidates were several consortia, including Congo-Rail (Bolloré Investments, Maersk, SNCF), and the South African consortium Sheltam Mvela.

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  •   Democratic Republic of the Congo – no – same gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) – proposed road-rail bridge.[14]
  •   Angola (Cabinda) – no lines in Cabinda – same gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) as mainland Angola
  •   Gabon – no – break of gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)/1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
  •   Cameroon – no – break of gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)/1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in)
  •   Central African Republic – no – no railways

Cities served by rail

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In the media

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In 2012 the Congo–Ocean Railway was featured in an episode of the television series Chris Tarrant: Extreme Railways.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Extreme Railways: Congos Jungle Railway". 2012 – via YouTube.[dead YouTube link]
  2. ^ "2014 Timetable". Lonely Planet.
  3. ^ "ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)". Archived from the original on 5 December 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  4. ^ "Republic of Congo profile: Timeline". BBC News. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  5. ^ "In pictures: Malaria train, Mayomba forest". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  6. ^ "In pictures: Malaria train, Train engine". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  7. ^ "Korea to build railroad in Congo". Korean Consortium. Archived from the original on 25 October 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  8. ^ "Railway Gazette: News in Brief". 16 April 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  9. ^ Denton, Paul (2015). "Locos For All Conditions". Railway Gazette International. 171 (6): 50.
  10. ^ "New US$ 1bn Mayoko to Pointe-Noire port railway project in Congo underway". 16 July 2021.
  11. ^ a b "map". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  12. ^ "Railway Magazine". June 1936: 400. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ a b c Jane's World Railways (69/70 ed.). pp. 542–543.
  14. ^ DRCongo-RCongo

Further reading

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External videos
YouTube video clips
  [1], 9 May 2017; 45:06; Chris Tarrant Extreme Railways S01E01 – Congo
  •   Media related to Chemin de fer Congo–Océan at Wikimedia Commons
  • 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."[1] Publisher: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393541014
  • Official website

Maps

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  1. ^ "Briefly Noted: In the Forest of No Joy". The New Yorker. 30 August 2021. p. 73.