Rail transport in Libya

Libya's railway network during Italian colonial rule

Arrival of the first locomotive in the port of Tripoli, ca.1912

Littorina in Tripoli central station around 1950

There is currently no rail transport in Libya . However, there were two narrow-gauge railway networks there in the past .

Colonial railways

As a colonial power in Libya, the Kingdom of Italy established two narrow-gauge railroad networks in different gauges from the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi to the vicinity of both cities, which together were around 400 km long.

• The network around Tripoli was built in 950 mm gauge and the first line went into operation on March 12, 1912. The routes led from Tripoli
  • 120 km west to Zuwara
  • 100 km south to Vertice 31 (near Gharyan )
  • 10 km east to Tadjoura
• The power to Benghazi was built from 1911 to 1927 in 750 mm track and later mm to 950 umgespurt . The routes led from Benghazi
  • 110 km to el Merdj (then: "Barce")
  • 56 km to Suluq
  • 40 km extension from Barce to Derna for military purposes during the First World War . This was the last line still in service in Libya - until 1965.

During the Second World War, a connection between Tripoli and Benghazi was started in 1941, but was never completed due to the Italian defeat.

The Senussi Cave Railway was a 1941 during the Siege of Tobruk less than 400 meters long, built narrow-gauge railway in Senussihöhle near Tobruk .

Furthermore, during the Second World War, the Allies pushed a standard-gauge railway line through Libya westwards from Egypt . This started 10 km from Marsa Matruh on the Egyptian network and led to Tobruk . The route was 350 km long, of which, west of Sollum , 125 km were in Libya. After the line was closed on December 20, 1946, the section in Libya was dismantled.

Since the last narrow-gauge railway ceased operations in 1965, there has been no rail traffic in Libya.

Projects under Gaddafi

Planned railway network in Libya

Since about 1998 work has been carried out on a nationwide railway network. A network with a scope of 3,170 km was planned, which was carried out in standard gauge:

• The North African rail transversal along the southern Mediterranean coast from Morocco to Egypt was to be double- tracked and consist of the following sections:
  • to the west: the Ras Ejder – Sirt railway line (625 km). This line was to connect to the Tunisian railway network on the western border of Libya, near Ras Ejder , and continue along the coast through the urban center of Tripoli to Sirt . Of this, a 5 km long test track went into operation near Tripoli.
  • in the center: the Sirt – Benghazi railway line (550 km), which should curve around the Great Syrte . As intermediate stops were u. a. planned: Ras Lanuf , Al Brayqah (Port Brega) and Ajdabiya .
  • in the east: the Benghazi – Musaid (Umm Saad) railway , which was supposed to connect near Sollum to the existing Egyptian railway towards the Nile Delta . The Libyan border station would have become Musaid / Umm Saad. The planning was carried out by the German Dorsch Afrique office of the Dorsch Group .
• A connection inland for the rail freight transport of raw materials, e.g. B. Iron ore from the Sabha area , kaolin and quartz sand at seaports and industrial sites on the Libyan coast: The north-south-directed Misrata – Sabha railway was to be single-tracked and later extended via Al Gadrun and Toumu towards neighboring Niger . Al Hayshah / Abu Qurayn (between Misratah and Sirt) and later in Sirt were planned as connecting points to the coastal stretch.

The cost of the project was estimated at 7 billion euros. Almost 6 billion of this is accounted for by the Libyan section of the North African rail transport. The continuation of the route to Egypt would have cost a further two billion euros.

After the outbreak of civil war in Libya in February 2011, all construction work was stopped. The foreign companies that operated the construction sites evacuated their employees or they fled. The construction companies refuse to resume work, the post-revolutionary Libyan state initially did not pursue the project, probably also because it was directly associated with the overthrown dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi . In February 2013, however, the Ministry of Transportation announced the resumption of the project.

Investment ruin

The parts of the railway systems that have already been built are not in an operational condition. The whole thing remains as a huge investment ruin. In retrospect, there was considerable criticism of the planning and execution. The station buildings for passenger traffic are often far away from the cities and the access road was not even tackled.

Silvio Berlusconi had as Italian prime minister said Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on the 40th anniversary of his revolution in 2010 as a state gift for a salon railcars converted DSB MG from current production of these trains for the Danish State Railways via suitable. The train was still in Libya in 2019, parked on the track of an unfinished line. The US manufacturers of the 244 locomotives that have already been ordered are likely to remain seated on this order.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Italian colonial railways in Libya (in Italian) ( Memento of the original from July 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 206 kB) 
2. ^ Australian War Memorial, No. 020201: Troops who worked in the "Senussi Hospital" cave.
3. ↑ Earthworks 60% complete on first section of Libyan network . In: Railway Gazette International , January 1, 2001. Archived from the original on December 15, 2009 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved July 12, 2010.  
4. ↑ According jst: Libya becomes the railway land . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 4/2011, p. 173, a connection is only planned in Sirt.
5. ↑ jst: Libya becomes a railroad country . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 4/2011, p. 173.
6. ↑ According jst: Libya becomes the railway land . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 4/2011, p. 173, a connection is only planned in Sirt.
7. ↑ According jst: Libya becomes the railway land . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 4/2011, p. 173, a connection is only planned in Sirt.
8. ↑ jst: Libya becomes a railroad country . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 4/2011, p. 173.
9. ↑ Dorsch Afrique plans Libyan railway lines
10. ↑ On the evacuation measures of foreign countries
11. ^ Walter Rothschild: Libya. In: HaRakevet 24/1 (March 2011), p. 19.
12. ↑ Fahrplancenter News 48 (2011/2012), p. 15f.
13. ↑ Libyaherald: Libya awaiting Chinese team for railway talks , February 27, 2013 (accessed July 8, 2013).
14. ↑ Fahrplancenter News 48 (2011/2012), p. 15f.
15. ↑ jst: Libya becomes a railroad country . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 4/2011, p. 173; Walter Rothschild: Libya. In: HaRakevet 24/1 (March 2011), p. 19.
16. ↑ Photo in: HaRakevet 126 (September 2019), p. 2.
17. ↑ Fahrplancenter News 48 (2011/2012), p. 15f.

Web links

• About the Railway Executive Board
• Earthworks 60% complete on first section of Libyan network , Railway Gazette International , January 2001.
• History of railways in colonial Libya (in Italian) (PDF; 206 kB)
• The world's largest railway project is off to a good start