Rail transport in Cape Verde

Rail traffic on Cape Verde only existed between 1830 and the 1950s, under Portuguese colonial administration . Only goods traffic took place, passenger traffic was never operated on Cape Verde .

Sal Island

Work on the wooden pier in the capital Praia, with the tracks of the port railway.

On the island of Sal Manuel António Martins Founded in 1830, a railway line to the in the salt mines of Pedra Lume mined salt to the port of Santa Maria to transport. The wagons were equipped with sails and were driven by the steadily blowing trade wind . In 1919, the French company Les Salines du Cap-Vert also built a cable car to transport salt.

The rail connection from Pedra Lume to Santa Maria was the first railway in Portugal. The first section of the Linha do Norte between Lisbon and Carregado was not put into operation until October 28, 1856.

In the 1950s the railway line was closed and replaced by tractors until the salt pans were completely closed in 1984.

Santiago Island

A small port railway was built around 1900 in the port of the capital Praia , on the island of Santiago . It worked at least until the concrete harbor pier was rebuilt in the 1920s.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Susanne Lipps, Oliver Breda: Cape Verde Islands. 1st edition, DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2009 ISBN 978-3-7701-7229-0 p. 99