From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The CongoOcean Railway (COR; French: Chemin de fer Congo-

Ocan, 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.
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]
In 2012 a luxury passenger train, La Gazelle, using Korean
manufactured passenger cars was introduced and as of 2014 it operated between Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville
every other day and was scheduled to take between 14 and 16 hours to complete the 502 kilometres (312 mi)
journey.
[2]
1 History
2 Present
3 In the media
4 Stations served
5 Specifications
6 Railway links to adjacent countries
7 Maps
8 Cities served by rail
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
Under French colonial administration, in 1921 they contracted Socit 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 Organisation Forced Labour
Convention of 1930, No. 29.
[3]
Disdain among the native population towards this conscripted labour and other
forms of oppression lead to the Kongo-Wara rebellion in 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.
[4]
In 1946, France ratified ILO No.29, in light of a permanent state of emergency, due to indigenous
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Mayumbe cutting, 1930
Forced labour family camp,
located near Les Saras, during
construction in 1930
Brazzaville station, 1932
CongoOcean Railway
Chemin de fer Congo-Ocan
Line length: 512 km / 318 mi
Track gauge: 1067 mm / 3 ft 6 in
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 CongoOcean Railway was a user of the Golw 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.
COR 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 (Bollor Investments, Maersk, SNCF), and
the South African consortium Sheltam Mvela.
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.
[5]
In 2007, a
Korean-led consortium CMKC Group signed a deal to build railway
extensions to Ouesso and Djambala mainly for timber traffic.
[6]
On 22 J une 2010, a train of the CongoOcean Railroad was involved in a
major incident, 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.
[7]
In 2011, it was announced that Africa Iron was close to concluding a 25-year ore transport deal with Congo
Ocean.
[8]
In 2012 the CongoOcean Railway was featured in an episode of the television series Chris Tarrant: Extreme
Railways.
[9]
Rail gauge : 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge (J ane's 69/70)
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Legend
512 kmBrazzaville
Kikembo
Ngoma-Tse-Tse
Mayogongo
Kibouende
Ngabouloumou
Madza
Matoumbou
Loualou
Massembo-Loubaki
Missafou
Mindouli
Kingoyi
Kikembo
Loulombo
Kimbedi
Loutt
Bouansa
Kipambou-Kayes
Madingou
Kimbaouka
Bodissa
Nkayi
Moutela
Loudima
285 kmMbinda
(Comilog-Line)
0 km
? km
Mont Blo
Moubotsi
Tao-Tao
? km
91 km
Loubomo (Dolisie)
Moukondo
Mvouti
Mpounga
Malemba
Les Saras
Mfoubou
Mvoungouti
Nzombo
Tsessi
Tsoumbou
Nemba
Nkougni
Brake (railway): Vacuum brake (J ane's 69/70)
Coupler: SA3 coupler (J ane's 69/70)
Democratic Republic of the Congo (Cabinda) - no - same gauge
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Gabon - no - break of gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)/1,435 mm
(4 ft 8
1

2
in)
Cameroon - no - break of gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)/1,000 mm
(3 ft 3
3

8
in)
Central African Republic - no - no railways
UN Map (http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile
/congo.pdf)
[1] (http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900LargeMaps
/SKAR-64GDLY?OpenDocument&cc=cog&rc=1)
UNJ LC Rail map of Southern Africa (http://www.reliefweb.int
/rw/fullMaps_Af.nsf/luFullMap
/BC0EF176D6BCADE385256C0800474100/$File
/wfp_safr_rails0702.pdf?OpenElement)
Congo Railway
Matadi-Kinshasa Railway in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo.
Railway stations in Congo
^ 2012, Extreme Railways : Congos J ungle Railway,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xrH6cuoXn4&feature=youtu.be
1.
^ 2014 Timetable, Lonely Planet, https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree 2.
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? km
0 km
Bilinga
Yanga
Mboukou
Makola
Hinda
Ntombo
Ngondji
0 km
Pointe-Noire
[10]
COMILOG-Line
Line length: 285 km / 177 mi
Track gauge: 1067 mm / 3 ft 6 in
Legend
285 kmMbinda
Ngongo
Mayoko
Tsinguidi
Mbaka
Vouka
Nzima
Moungoundou
Moutebe
Mossendjo
Boungoto
Massanga
Tsimba
Itsotso
Titi
Mabafi
Mahitoula
106 kmPK 106
Boudanga
Makabana
Moukanga
Diesse
Sinda
Mouindi
Kibouba
512 kmBrazzaville
Loutt
(Congo-Ocean)
0 km
Mont Blo
0 km
Pointe-Noire1 m
[11]
/forums/africa/congo/la-gazelle-train-brazzaville-to-pointe-noire
^ ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) (http://www.ilo.org
/ilolex/cgi-lex/convde.pl?C029)
3.
^ "In pictures: Malaria train, Mayomba forest" (http://news.bbc.co.uk
/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/africa_malaria_train/html/3.stm).
news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
4.
^ "In pictures: Malaria train, Train engine" (http://news.bbc.co.uk
/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/africa_malaria_train/html/1.stm).
news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
5.
^ "Korea to build railroad in Congo" (http://www.korea.net/News/News
/LangView.asp?serial_no=20070820016&lang_no=1&part=103&
SearchDay=). Korean Consortium. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
6.
^ "60 reported dead in Congo train crash" (http://en.wikinews.org
/wiki/60_reported_dead_in_Congo_train_crash). Wikinews. 23 J une
2010. Retrieved 23 J une 2010.
7.
^ "Railway Gazette: News in Brief" (http://www.railwaygazette.com
/nc/news/single-view/view/news-in-brief-52.html). 2011-04-16. Retrieved
2011-04-16.
8.
^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xrH6cuoXn4&feature=youtu.be 9.
^ http://www.cfco.cg/FileUpload/pics/Cartes/cfco_carte.jpg 10.
^ http://www.cfco.cg/FileUpload/pics/Cartes/cfco_carte.jpg 11.
Andr Gide, Voyage au Congo (1926)
Albert Londres, Terre d'bne (1929)
Gilles Sautter, "Notes sur la construction du chemin de fer
Congo-Ocan (1921-1934)," Cahiers d'tudes africaines
7:219-299 (1967)
J ane's World Railways 69/70, pages 542/543
CFCO website (http://www.cfco.cg/)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Congo
Ocean_Railway&oldid=611442914"
Categories: French Equatorial Africa Brazzaville Pointe-Noire
3 ft 6 in gauge railways in the Republic of the Congo
History of the Republic of the Congo
Rail transport in Republic of the Congo
This page was last modified on 3 J une 2014 at 22:38.
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