Rail transport in Liberia

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Liberia's rail network

The railway in Liberia was up to the Liberian civil war on three routes with a total length of about 480 kilometers to the transport of iron ore operated and adjusted because of war-related damage.

history

Iron ore freight train on the Lamco Railway (1976)

The economic development of mineral resources provided for the construction of railway lines as early as the 1920s, which should be built by the British Liberian Development Company . The national bankruptcy of Liberia and the involvement of the US firm Firestone Tire & Rubber Company thwarted these plans. During the Second World War , the United States began preparations for the economic development of Liberia's iron ore deposits. The most important investment was the Freeport Monrovia , the country's first sea port with a rail link. The majority of Liberia's mines are located in the northern border area, a second ore loading port was built on the coast near Buchanan to transport the ores and the associated Lamco Railway was put into operation in the 1950s .

The Mano River Railway was completed in the 1950s. It opens up the western mining areas on the Mano River and leads via the city of Tubmanburg to Monrovia . This railway line has a track width of 1067 mm. In the 1960s, a private group of investors from Germany also acquired a mining concession in the Bong Range area and founded the DELIMCO mining company. A railway line, known as the bong mining railway, was again laid out as a transport route .

The rail network was partially interrupted during the civil war and rail operations had to be discontinued due to a lack of profitability. Chinese construction crews are now working on renovating the facilities, as the country is interested in further developing the mineral resources. The Tubman Bridge, which is already being rebuilt, is the most important railway bridge in the country with a length of 240 meters and is due to be completed in 2011.

Current situation

Since 2004 there has been an initiative for the revitalization of parts of the bong mining track for the transport of people and goods. Sections of the bong mining railway that have already been put into operation enable the transport of tropical timber; they also offer limited transport options for jeeps and small vehicles. The aim is to restart the 78-kilometer route in 2011.

future

In the summer of 2010 a Brazilian mining company also announced plans to build a completely new railway line and an ore port in order to expand a Guinean mining area.

Others

In Liberia's capital Monrovia, a horse-drawn tram line was operated briefly around 1920 , but it did not seem to be profitable.

literature

  • Georg Schulz: Experiences with wooden sleepers in an ore railway line in Liberia, West Africa . In: European Journal of Wood and Wood Products . tape 34/9 . Springer Verlag, 1976, ISSN  0018-3768 , p. 325-330 , doi : 10.1007 / BF02614039 . (affects the bong mining lane)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ ADAC (ed.): The ADAC country lexicon . ADAC-Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-89905-095-9 , Liberia, p. 362-363 .
  2. ^ Chinese Firm To Complete Major Bridge Construction One Year Later As Pres. Sirleaf Visits Project SiteBrussels Airlines. In: Sengbeh Wordpress online portal. Retrieved November 24, 2010 .
  3. ^ NN: World rail infrastructure market October 2010 . In: Railway Gazette International . 2010, ISSN  0373-5346 , News. ( Full text as digitized version)
  4. ^ NN: Liberia ore line to spur guinea revival . In: Railway Gazette International . 2010, ISSN  0373-5346 , News. ( Full text as digitized version)
  5. ↑ A view of Monrovia ... (1920/30). In: Getty Images, Inc. Internet portal. Retrieved November 4, 2010 . (Historical images)