Trans-Gabon Railway

The Trans-Gabon railway runs 669 kilometres from Owendo on the coast near Libreville through the forest to Franceville in the southeast, built between 1974 and 1986 at enormous cost during the oil boom, largely to move manganese and timber. Passenger services run several times a week and take most of a day and a night, passing through Lopé National Park where the forest opens into savanna and animals are sometimes visible from the window.

Background

Gabon has no other railway. Proposals for a line across the country go back as early as 1885, but construction only began in October 1974. The first section, from Owendo to Ndjolé, opened in 1978, and the track reached Franceville on 30 December 1986. It is a single standard gauge (1,435 mm) line without electrification, worked by diesel locomotives and serving 23 intermediate stations, among them Ndjolé, Lopé, Booué, Lastoursville and Moanda. Its arrival at Moanda in the mid-1980s led to the closure of the COMILOG Cableway, a ropeway of 76 kilometres opened in 1962 for manganese. SETRAG runs the line, which in 2022 carried 10.9 million tonnes of freight and approximately 248,000 passengers.

Source: Wikipedia, "Trans-Gabon Railway"

What to look for

• The forest crossing - 669 kilometres through equatorial woodland to the interior.
• The Lopé section - the stretch through the park where forest opens to savanna.
• The freight traffic - the manganese and timber trains the line was built for.
• The overnight journey - most of a day and a night between the endpoints.

When to go

June to September is the drier season. Services run several times a week rather than daily. Delays of many hours are routine.

What to expect

Delays are routine and can run to many hours or a full day. Rolling stock is worn and air conditioning is unreliable. Booking is done in person and sells out.

Nearby

Lopé National Park is on the line, and Franceville is the eastern end.

Key facts