Jazirah Railway
The Jazira Railway , also spelled Gezira Railway , is a railway network in the Jazira Plain in Sudan . The railway was one of the most extensive light rail networks in Africa. It has a track width of 610 mm.
history
The Jazirah Railway was part of the Jazirah project started in 1911 , which aims to increase agricultural production in the area of the Jazirah plain. The railway began its operation in 1919 with a route network of 20 kilometers. In the course of the expansion of the project, including through the al-Managil expansion (1958 to 1962), the route network increased to 1050 kilometers. The railway suffers a lot from a lack of maintenance and spare parts.
Freight transport
The task of the Jazirah Railway is to supply the farms with seeds , fertilizer and other materials, as well as to transport mainly the cotton, grain and peanuts produced to the processing plants of the Jazirah project.
Rolling stock
The fleet consists mainly of flat bogie wagons with a loading weight of 9 tons. But there are also oil tankers and support vehicles. In 2004 there were 1,841 cars. These were pulled by 62 diesel locomotives that were procured from Hunslet in 1953, 1975 and 1983 and have an output of up to 135 hp.