Rail transport in Cameroon

Rail transport in Cameroon has existed since the German colonial era . In Cameroon there is a meter gauge railway system . It has no connection to neighboring states.

Train from Yaoundé to Ngaundere

Cameroon Developement Corporation (CDC) light railroad , banana wagon

Same field railway in 1938: on the occasion of the referendum on the “Anschluss” of Austria to the German Reich, banana cars are decorated for the transport of German settlers to the polling station on a banana steamer.

German colonial times

The topography of Cameroon was unfavorable for railway construction: Mountains and a dense belt of jungle in the hinterland of the largest port, Douala , prevented Cameroon from entering the railway age for a long time. The first railway to go into operation in Cameroon was a field railway with a gauge of 600 mm, which was laid by the private West African Planting Company Victoria (WAPV). It led from Zwingenberger Hof near Soppo , near the former governor's seat of Buea , to the small port of Victoria (today: Limbe ) and also offered passenger transport. The network was expanded further. The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) operated a similar railway immediately east of the WAPV network. The latter was in operation until the 1970s. The information on its track width varies between 600 mm and 610 mm.

The second railway that was built in Cameroon was the 160 km long Bonaberi – Nkongsamba railway , also known as the Northern Railway .

→ Main article : Duala – Nkongsamba railway line

The third railway project was the Douala – Mbalmayo railway , the Mittellandbahn , which replaced the Eséka – Makak narrow-gauge railway .

→ Main article : Douala – Ngaoundere railway line

The latter two routes were built in meter gauge and set a corresponding standard for future railway construction in Cameroon.

French colonial times

The vast majority of Cameroon was considered after 1918 mandated territory of France betrayed. This “trust management” did not encourage the French colonial power to make major investments in the country's railways. Initially, it merely restored the serviceability of the lines built under German rule. The Nordbahn and the Mittellandbahn were uniformly subordinated to the Chemins de fer de Cameroun (CFC) in operation, but were still two separate network parts. Construction of the Douala – Mbalmayo railway project was continued, but the route was diverted to Yaounde , which was reached in 1927. The seat of the colonial administration had been moved there. The gap to Mbalmayo was initially closed by a railway with a gauge of 600 mm and field railway material from Otele . It was not until 1933 that the line was converted to meter gauge. A structural connection between the Mittellandbahn and the Nordbahn came about in 1955 over a 12 km long route and a 1850 m long bridge over the Wouri .

The switch to diesel operation has been forced since 1950, as all coal had to be imported from South Africa and there were repeated irregularities in its delivery.

Independent Cameroon

Schematic representation of the railway network
Ngaundere Bélabo Nanga Eboko Yaounde Mbalmayo Edéa Douala Nkongsamba Kumba

Railway network in Cameroon

Cameroon, which has been independent since 1960, first built a 29 km long line to Kumba that branched off the northern line and went into operation in 1969. The largest project was the extension of the Mittellandbahn over 622 km from Yaounde to Ngaundere . The entire line went into operation in 1974. The maximum extension of the route network was 1120 km. Between 1975 and 1983 part of the Mittellandbahn was partially re-routed in the lower section of the line. In contrast, the route to Nkongsamba was discontinued. Part of the rails have been removed.

The global wave of privatization began in 1996 on the Cameroon railways. On January 19, 1999, Groupe Bolloré received the license to operate the railway for a period of 30 years. It operates the railway under the name Camrail , also known as Cameroon Railways , in both passenger and freight traffic. Passenger traffic (2014) consists of nine trains a day across the country: 3 pairs of trains Duala - Kumba, four connections between Yaounde and Duala, 2 of which are IC trains without intermediate stops, also a night train connection between Yaounde and Ngaundere with sleeping cars and a pair of trains Belabo - Ngaundere. Two car classes are offered .

Curiosities

The Ekona plantation had a monorail in which the wagons were moved by muscle power, but the load of the wagon and its load rested on the rail.

literature

• Franz Baltzer : The colonial railways with a special focus on Africa . Göschen'sche Verlagshandlung, Berlin-Leipzig 1916; Reprint-Verlag-Leipzig, Holzminden, ISBN 978-3-8262-0233-9 .
• Helmut Schroeter: The railways of the former German protected areas in Africa and their vehicles (= The vehicles of the German railways. H. 7, ZDB -ID 593887-9 ). Transport Science Teaching Aid Society, Frankfurt am Main 1961.
• Helmut Schroeter, Roel Ramaer: The railways in the once German protected areas. East Africa, South West Africa, Cameroon, Togo and the Shantung Railway. Then and now. (= German Colonial Railways. ) Röhr, Krefeld 1993, ISBN 3-88490-184-2 .

Web links

Commons : Rail Transport in Cameroon  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Northern Railway in the German colony of Cameroon

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heinrich Schnee, Deutsches Koloniallexikon, p. 620.
2. ↑ Schroeter, p. 96f.
3. ↑ Schroeter / Ramaer, p. 119.
4. ↑ Schroeter, p. 58.
5. ↑ Schroeter / Ramaer, p. 127.
6. ↑ Camrail timetable and tariffs (PDF; 83 kB)
7. ↑ Schroeter / Ramaer, p. 122.