Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

has 1,155km of railways. This comprises 366km at

gauge Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...

and 789km at gauge. The latter includes 662km in

common carrier A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to a public carrier in some civil law (legal system), civil law systems,Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods" usually called simply a ''carrier ...

service from

Kankan Kankan ( Mandingo: Kánkàn; N’ko: ߞߊ߲ߞߊ߲߫) is the largest city in Guinea in land area, and the third largest in population, with a population of 198,013 people as of 2020. The city is located in eastern Guinea about east of the ...

Conakry Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973. The current population of C ...

most of which is abandoned.

The current status

Conakry to Kankan (state owned railway line)

In June 1959, the state-owned railway company ONCFG (Office National des Chemins de Fer de Guinée) was founded. The property of the former French colonial Conakry-Niger rail authority was transferred to it. Since 2010 the organisation has been known as Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer de Guinée (SNCFG). In the following years, the rolling stock wasn't maintained. Since 1993, with the exception of fuel shipments to

Mamou Mamou ( Pular: 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤥𞤵𞤲) is a city and sub-prefecture in a valley of the Fouta Djallon area of Guinea. The population is 376,269 (2018 est). Rio Tinto and

BHP Billiton BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

about the renovation of the Conakry-Kankan line. In 2011, the Brazilian company

Vale A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municip ...

began rebuilding the Conakry to Kankan railroad. This project was not completed and the majority of the line remains (2025) abandoned. As part of an agreement with the government of Guinea, Vale was to refurbish the railroad, which would transport passengers and general freight between the capital city Conakry and Kankan in the east of the country. By rebuilding the railroad, Vale would have contributed to the social and economic development of the African country, potentially creating thousands of jobs.

Passenger Services

A major public transport development milestone was achieved in Guinea during June 2010 with the start of the Conakry Express. This operates on the SBK standard gauge line (see below). The Chinese International Funding (CIF) funded initiative has delivered a passenger rail transport system, The Conakry Express will hugely improve the movement of people through the long route. A passenger service operates (2018 latest information) between Kamsar and Sangaredi three times per week on the Chemin de Fer de Boké standard gauge line (see below).

Mining company lines

A number of railway lines are used to transport bauxite and iron ore to the coast for export: * Chemin de Fer de Boké. This long

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

railway line from

Kamsar Kamsar is a port city in Guinea, West Africa. It is also a Sub-prefectures of Guinea, Sub-prefecture of Guinea. It is located on the mouth of the Nunez River. Port Kamsar handles significant part of the world's bauxite production. Ships callin ...

Boké Boké is the capital city of Boké Prefecture within the Boké Region of Lower Guinea near the border with Guinea-Bissau. It is also a sub-prefecture of Guinea. Located along the Rio Nuñez which flows to its not-too-distant mouth on the Atl ...

and

Sangarédi Sangarédi is a mining town and sub-prefecture in western Guinea, where bauxite is mined. The ore is shipped by a railway to the Atlantic coast port of Kamsar Kamsar is a port city in Guinea, West Africa. It is also a Sub-prefectures of Guine ...

commenced operation in 1973. The route is operated by the CBG mining company but also carries the traffic of Guinea Aluminium Company (GAC) and Compagnie des Bauxites de Dian-Dian (COBAD). CBG transports of

bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

and minerals annually. * Dapilon Santou Railway. This 125km (78mi) long standard gauge line was opened in 2021. It is operated by the SMB-Winning Consortium. * Chemin de fer de Conakry – Fria. This 143km (89mi) long 1,000mm

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

line was opened in 1963. The first 16km is shared with the Conakry - Kankan line. The route is operated by the Russian

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

giant RusAl (in 2006 acquired from Friguia SA). Between Fria and Conakry transported more than of goods (

aluminate In chemistry, an aluminate is a compound containing an oxyanion of aluminium, such as sodium aluminate. In the naming of inorganic compounds, it is a suffix that indicates a polyatomic anion with a central aluminium atom. Aluminate oxyanions ...

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

products and caustic soda). * Societe des Bauxites de Kindia (SBK). This 105km (65mi)

line from Conakry to

Kindia Kindia ( N’ko: ߞߌ߲ߘߌߦߊ߫) is the fourth largest city in Guinea, located about northeast of the nation's capital, Conakry. Its estimated population in 2008 was 181,126. Kindia serves as the capital and largest city of Kindia Prefecture ...

commenced operation in 1972 and was built with help from

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The route is operated by mining company Societé des Bauxites de Kindia (SBK). The transport included the delivery of bauxite (annually ) from Kindia to Conakry harbour. * Transguinean Railway. This 625km standard gauge line is currently (2025) under construction and will transport

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

from the

Simandou mine The Simandou mine is a very large, high-grade iron-ore deposit in the southern highlands of Guinea. Running along the crest of the Simandou range in the Nzérékoré Region, the project holds an estimated 2.4 billion tonnes of ore grading 65 ...

to the coast, near

Matakong Matakong is an island just off the coast of Guinea between the capital Conakry and the Sierra Leone border. Nomenclature Matakong is also called Matakan. Transport Matakong is the proposed port terminus of the heavy duty standard gauge Tra ...

, for export. The project is being developed by a consortium comprising Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS), Rio Tinto (in partnership with others) and the government of Guinea.

Rail links with other countries

* There are at present no railway connections between Guinea and its neighbouring countries. Proposals * In February 2024 the latest proposal to construct a line from the south-east of Guinea into Liberia was announced. The 'Liberty Corridor' would see a heavy-haul railway constructed from the Lola region of Guinea to a new deep-water port at Didia in Liberia. "''The government of Liberia has signed a letter of intent with High Power Exploration (HPX) and Guma Africa Group to enter into negotiations over the joint development of the Liberty Corridor connecting Guinea and Liberia''." * In May 2024 the latest proposal to rehabilitate / replace the Conakry to Kankan line, with an extension on to Mali was announced. "''On 15th May 2024, the Guinean Ministry of Transport, the Guinean Ministry of Economy and Finance, and construction company ICE Home Development signed a framework agreement to continue the studies for the reconstruction of the 1,400 km railway line from Conakry via Kankan to the border with Mali.''"

References

External links

Distance tables

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rail Transport In Guinea Standard-gauge railways in Guinea