Kinshasa light rail
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The Kinshasa light rail (French: Chemin de fer urbain de Kinshasa ) is a local transport system within the Congolese capital Kinshasa . The operator is the state transport company ONATRA . It uses the network of the Matadi-Kinshasa Railway and two branch lines.
history
The trains originally ran through what is now Boulevard du 30 Juin . When the gauge was changed to the Cape Gauge in the 1930s, the main train station was relocated from today's Westbahnhof to the new port near the Ostbahnhof and the route between them was re-routed slightly to the south. The extension to Kinsuka pump and the branch line from Limete to the airport were built later. Up until the 1950s there was a dead straight branch line from Ndolo to Kauka (in the municipality of Kalamu ), the former workers' settlement of the colonial railway and port company OTRACO ( Office des Transports Coloniaux ). This line crossed the runway at N'Dolo Airport .
In 2005 two decrepit trains were available, each of which ran four courses per day on the first two lines and was often overcrowded. Chronic lack of money, compounded by rampant corruption among the staff , thwarted investments in the railway, which is important for many residents of Kinshasa.
In 2008, with Belgian help, the upgrading of this railway system began. Four years of construction and 7 million euros were estimated for this. The fleet is to be supplemented by four locomotives and forty wagons. However, work had not started until early summer 2010. A pair of trains ran between Kasungulu and the Ostbahnhof. The route to the Westbahnhof was closed due to road construction, information about the airport line contradicting itself.
In July 2011, two Czech diesel locomotives of the 742 series were taken over. The locomotives had to be re-gauged to Cape gauge for the new location.
network
There are three lines that all start in Kinshasa East Station and go to one of the other three terminus.
- Kinshasa East Railway Station - Masina - Ndjili Airport
- Kinshasa Ostbahnhof - Matete - Kimwenza - Kasangulu (in Lower Congo)
- Kinshasa East Station - Kinshasa West Station - Kinsuka Pump (in Ngaliema)
Individual evidence
- ^ Charles Blanchart: Le Rail au Congo Belge. 1920-1945. Blanchart, Bruxelles 1999.
- ^ Plan de Leopoldville : Echelle de 1: 15.500. Editions de la Librairie Congolaise, Léopoldville 1954. (Maps)
- ^ Léopoldville. 1960. (maps)
- ↑ L'enfer des chemins de fer urbains kinois , Le Potentiel , 25 June 2005.
- ↑ http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/200911110588.html
- ↑ http://cncblog-francais.congonewschannel.net/2009/11/chemin-de-fer-urbain-7-millions-deuros.html
- ↑ http://afriquinfos.centerblog.net/1326-chemin-de-fer-urbain-7-millions-d-euros-de-la-belgique
- ↑ Information on the export of two diesel locomotives from the CD (cz., Accessed on July 25, 2011; 1:00 p.m. CET)