Posted on 14 December 2007 by Railways Africa Editor
Office du Chemin de fer Trans Gabonais (Octra), the 814km standard-gauge national railway of Gabon, has awarded Plasser & Theurer a contract to supply ATP 500-C flash-butt welding machines. Octra operates limited passenger service between the capital, Libreville, and Franceville (670km), but the main traffic is timber and manganese ore. [...more]
Posted on 08 March 2007 by Railways Africa Editor
The state-owned China National Machinery & Equipment Import & Export company has been selected by the West African state of Gabon to mine its vast iron ore deposits – believed to be the biggest in the world – at Belinga, deep in dense forest in the north-east of the country. A $US3 billion investment is [...] [...more]
Posted on 05 October 2006 by Railways Africa Editor
Gabon was a late starter as far as railways were concerned, the first construction commencing only in 1974. The 1,435mm gauge was chosen as it offered the convenience of off-the-shelf rolling stock purchase. This was despite adjacent countries’ rail lines being incompatible (Cameroon 1,000mm and Congo-Brazzaville 1,067mm), but no connections to these systems were envisaged. The [...] [...more]
Posted on 20 May 2006 by Railways Africa Editor
A Chinese company, CMEC, is considering the development of an iron-ore mine at Belinga in Gabon. It would be connected probably to the existing 1,435mm gauge railway to the port of Libreville in Gabon. Should this scheme eventuate, the Australian group intending to exploit iron-ore mining in nearby Cameroon might consider a rail link to [...] [...more]
