Rail transport in Somalia

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The rail transport in Somalia consisted of two networks in three different track gauges in the period between the First and Second World War . The first railroad construction was carried out in Italian Somaliland , followed by a line in British Somaliland during the Second World War . All of these routes were destroyed or abandoned during the war. Since then there has been no rail traffic in Somalia .

Italian Somaliland

  • Mogadishu - Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi (today: Jawhar ). The line was built between 1924 and 1927 in the narrow-gauge track gauge of 950 mm customary in Italy and was 113.9 km long. The builder was Ferrovia della Somalia Italiana (FRI), which opened up agricultural areas in the hinterland of Mogadishu. Field railways connected to this "main line" as feeders :
  • Afgoi –Genale (today: Janaale ). The line was also built in 1924 with a 600 mm gauge. It was 46 km long and began in Afgoi on the Mogadishu – Villagio Duca degli Abruzzi railway. The building owner was Società Agricola Italo Somala (SAIS), moving on from her powered sugar cane - plantations opened up. The first served the same purpose
  • Bivio Adalei - Ferfer railway line . The line was also built in 600 mm gauge initially between 1928 and 1936 in sections to Bulo Burti . This first section was 130 km long. He started in Bivio Adalei on the Mogadishu – Villagio Duca degli Abruzzi route. The client was again FRI. During the Second World War, the route was extended by the Italian army by approx. 150 km to Ferfer on today's Ethiopian border.

All of the above-mentioned routes were combined in 1936 with the Djibouti – Addis Ababa and Massaua – Biscia railway lines within the Italian-East Africa colony formed from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Italian Somaliland in the Società Nazionale per le Ferrovie Coloniali Italiane . Their routes in Somalia were destroyed when the country was conquered by the British military in 1941 and no longer rebuilt.

British Somaliland

In 1929, the British military built a 172 km long railway line in meter gauge in what was then British Somaliland , starting from the then French colony of Djibouti , where it connected to the railway infrastructure of the Djibouti – Addis Ababa line and led to Hargeysa in Somalia. The route was reserved for military use only and was abandoned after the victory over Italy around 1943.

literature

  • Neil Robinson: World Rail Atlas and historical summary. Vol. 7: North, East and Central Africa. World Rail Atlas Ltd., 2009, ISBN 978-954-92184-3-5