Congo-Ocean Railway line
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Pointe Noire,Bouenza,Kouilou,Niari,Pool,Lékoumou
Termini	Pointe Noire Brazzaville
Stations	49
Service
System	Non-Electrified
Services	ViaDolisie
History
Opened	1934
Technical
Line length	512 km (318 mi)
Number of tracks	1
Character	At-grade
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	No
Operating speed	40 kilometres per hour (25 mph)
Route map

TheCongo–Ocean Railway (COR;French:Chemin de fer Congo-Océan,CFCO) links the Atlantic port ofPointe-Noire (now in theRepublic of Congo) withBrazzaville, a distance of 502 kilometres (312 mi). It bypasses the rapids on the lowerCongo River; fromBrazzaville, river boats are able to ascend the Congo River and its major tributaries, including theOubangui River toBangui.

As of 2012^[update] the railroad was regularly operating freight and passenger services along the length of the line despite the poor state of the track.^[1] A luxury passenger train,La Gazelle, using Korean-manufactured passenger cars, was introduced in 2012; as of 2014 it operated betweenPointe-Noire andBrazzaville every other day, and was scheduled to take 14–16 hours to complete the 502 kilometres (312 mi) journey.^[2]

Under French colonial administration, in 1921 they contractedSociété de Construction des Batignolles to construct the railway usingforced labour, recruited from what is now southernChad and theCentral African Republic. Like Spain and Portugal, France did not ratify theInternational Labour OrganizationForced Labour Convention of 1930, No. 29.^[3] Disdain among the native population towards this conscripted labour and other forms of oppression led to theKongo-Wara rebellion between 1928 and 1931.^[4] Through the period of construction until 1934 there was a continual heavy cost in human lives, with total deaths estimated in excess of 17,000 of the construction workers, from a combination of both industrial accidents and diseases includingmalaria.^[5] In 1946, France ratified the Forced Labour Convention, in light of a permanent state of emergency, due to indigenous revolt.

In 1962, a branch was constructed toMbinda near the border withGabon, to connect with theCOMILOG Cableway and thus carrymanganese ore to Pointe-Noire. The Cableway closed in 1986 when neighbouringGabon built its own railway to haul this traffic. The branch line remains active nonetheless.

The Congo–Ocean Railway was a user of theGolwé locomotive. Motive power is now provided by diesel locomotives.

From the start of thecivil war in 1997, the line was closed for six years.^{[citation needed]}

Operations restarted in 2004, but in August 2007BBC News reported that COR was in a "decrepit state, with the majority of trains now broken", afterUNICEF had organised a train to distribute malaria nets.^[6] In 2007, aKorean-led consortium CMKC Group signed a deal to build railway extensions toOuesso andDjambala mainly for timber traffic.^[7]

On 21 June 2010, a train of the Congo–Ocean Railroadwas involved in a major accident, in which at least 60 people were killed. The train is believed to have derailed as it went round a curve in a remote area betweenBilinga andTchitondi, throwing four carriages into a ravine. The dead and wounded were taken to hospitals and morgues in Pointe-Noire.

In 2011, it was announced that Africa Iron Ore Ltd was close to concluding a 25-year ore transport deal with Congo–Ocean.^[8] In early 2015 the Congo–Ocean Railway purchased ten locomotives fromElectro-Motive Diesel inMuncie, Indiana. They were put into service by the summer of 2015.^[9]

In 2021 a proposal was announced for aMayoko andNiari toPointe-Noire railway made for the transport of iron ore.^[10]

Congo–Ocean Railway Chemin de fer Congo-Océan
Technical
Line length	512 km / 318 mi
Track gauge	1067 mm / 3 ft 6 in
Route map Legend 512 km Brazzaville Kikembo Ngoma-Tse-Tse Mayogongo Kibouende Ngabouloumou Madza Matoumbou Loualou Massembo-Loubaki Missafou Mindouli Kingoyi Kikembo Loulombo Kimbedi Loutété Bouansa Kipambou-Kayes Madingou Kimbaouka Bodissa Nkayi Moutela Loudima 285 km Mbinda (Comilog-Line) 0 km ? km Mont Bélo Moubotsi Tao-Tao ? km 91 km Loubomo (Dolisie) Moukondo Mvouti Mpounga Malemba Les Saras Mfoubou Mvoungouti Nzombo Tsessi Tsoumbou Nemba Nkougni ? km 0 km Bilinga Yanga Mboukou Makola Hinda Ntombo Ngondji 0 km Pointe-Noire [11]

COMILOG-Line
Technical
Line length	285 km / 177 mi
Track gauge	1067 mm / 3 ft 6 in
Route map Legend 285 km Mbinda Ngongo Mayoko Tsinguidi Mbaka Vouka Nzima Moungoundou Moutebe Mossendjo Boungoto Massanga Tsimba Itsotso Titi Mabafi Mahitoula 106 km PK 106 Boudanga Makabana Moukanga Diesse Sinda Mouindi Kibouba 512 km Brazzaville Loutété (Congo-Ocean) 0 km   Mont Bélo 0 km Pointe-Noire 1 m[11]

The line includes the 1,690-metre (1,850 yd)Bamba tunnel and 14 large reinforced concrete viaducts. The steepest eastbound gradients are 1 in 67 (1.5%), the steepest westbound 1 in 50 (2.0%). The initial locomotives were2-8-2 tender and articulated tank engines with six driving axles. There were also 2 4-wheel petrol cars for engineers and an 18-passengerMicheline and another Micheline for the Governor General.^[12]

• Track gauge :3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge^[13]
• Brake (railway):Vacuum brake^[13]
• Coupler:SA3 coupler^[13]

The COR is a state-owned enterprise whose privatization was planned as part of the commitments made by the Congolese government to theWorld Bank and theInternational Monetary Fund. Among the candidates were several consortia, including Congo-Rail (Bolloré Investments,Maersk,SNCF), and the South African consortium Sheltam Mvela.

• Democratic Republic of the Congo – no – same gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) – proposed road-rail bridge.^[14]
• Angola (Cabinda) – no lines in Cabinda – same gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) as mainland Angola
• Gabon – no –break of gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)/1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
• Cameroon – no – break of gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)/1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
• Central African Republic – no – no railways

In 2012, the Congo–Ocean Railway was featured in an episode of the television seriesChris Tarrant: Extreme Railways.^[1]

• Congo Railway
• Matadi-Kinshasa Railway in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo.
• Railway stations in Congo
• List of countries by rail transport network size
• Transport in the Republic of the Congo

• Daughton, J. P. (2021).In the Forest of No Joy: The Cong-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism.
• Gide, André (1926).Voyage au Congo.
• Londres, Albert (1929).Terre d'Ébène.
• Sautter, Gilles (1967)."Notes sur la construction du chemin de fer Congo-Océan (1921–1934)".Cahiers d'Études Africaines.7 (26):219–299.doi:10.3406/cea.1967.3098 – viaPersee.fr.

External videos
YouTube video clips
[1], 9 May 2017; 45:06;Chris Tarrant Extreme Railways S01E01 – Congo

• Media related toChemin de fer Congo–Océan at Wikimedia Commons
• A 2021 book,In the Forest of No Joy: The Congo-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism by J. P. Daughton (Norton, 384 pp), describes the gruesome toll taken on the African laborers who built the railroad in the 1920s and 30s. A brief review inThe New Yorker notes that although the project "was championed as key to local development," over 20 000 of them "perished of starvation, disease, or physical abuse. Mostly forced laborers, they toiled without machinery, clearing forests by hand and turning rocks into gravel with hammers."^[1] Publisher:https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393541014
• Official website

• UN Map
• reliefweb.intArchived 27 September 2007 at theWayback Machine
• UNJLC Rail map of Southern Africa

• French Equatorial Africa
• Geography of Brazzaville
• Pointe-Noire
• 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in the Republic of the Congo
• Rail transport in the Republic of the Congo
• 1930s establishments in French Equatorial Africa

• All articles with dead YouTube links
• Articles with dead YouTube links from February 2022
• CS1 errors: missing periodical
• Articles with short description
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• Use dmy dates from October 2020
• Articles containing French-language text
• Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2012
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