Guinea has 1,086 km of railways. This includes 279 km at

gauge Gauge ( or ) 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, es ...

and 807 km at gauge. The latter includes 662 km in

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

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 1 980 130 people as of 2020. The city is located in eastern Guinea about east of ...

Conakry Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its ...

. Currently operating in Guinea three different railway companies: *Chemin de Fer de Guinée (ONCFG), * Chemins de Fer de la Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée - Chemin de Fer de Conakry (CBG) and * Chemin de Fer Boké.

The current status

The state owned railway line from Conakry to Kankan

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 has been transferred to it. Into the following years all the rolling stock weren't maintained. Since 1993 with 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. Population 376,269 (2018 est),and the city is almost 98% Fulani tribe. Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

and

BHP Billiton BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

about renovation of the Conakry-Kankan line. In 2010 the Brazilian company Vale began work on rebuilding the Conakry to Kankan railroad. As part of an agreement with the government of Guinea, Vale is investing to refurbish the railroad, which will transport passengers and general freight between capital city Conakry and Kankan in the east of the country. By rebuilding the railroad, Vale is contributing to the social and economic development of the African country, potentially creating thousands of jobs. A major public transport development milestone was achieved in Guinea during June 2010 with the start of the Conakry Express. 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.

Mining companies railway links

Three railway lines are used to transport bauxite to the coast: * In the 1970s opened a long standard gauge railway link from

Kamsar Kamsar is a port city in Guinea, West Africa. It is also a 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 calling Port Kamsar and going d ...

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 Atla ...

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, 135km to the west. As of 2016, Sangarédi had a population of 81,736 people, an incre ...

. The route is operated by the CBG mining company. 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 (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

and minerals annually. * The narrow gauge railway line Conakry -

Fria Fria is a town and Sub-prefecture in Lower Guinea, lying north of Conakry near the Amaria Dam on the Konkouré River. As of 2014 it had a population of 61,691 people. Overview There are some variations in the name of the town: Friguia, Kimbo ...

(called CFCF = Chemin de fer Conakry – Fria) have a length of and is operated by the Russian

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It h ...

giant

RusAl United Company RUSAL, international public joint-stock company (russian: МКПАО «ОК РУСАЛ», MKPAO «ОК RUSAL») is the world's second largest aluminium company by primary production output (as of 2016). It was the largest until ov ...

(in 2006 acquired from Friguia SA). The route was built in the 1960s and are in good condition. 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 aluminum atom. Aluminate oxyanions Alu ...

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

products and caustic soda). * The standard gauge railway line Conakry -

Kindia Kindia (N’ko: ߞߌ߲ߘߌߦߊ߫) is the fourth largest city in Guinea, lying about 85 miles 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 Prefect ...

have length of and was built with help from

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

. The route is operated by the state owned mining company Societé des Bauxites de Kindia (SBK). The transport included the delivery of bauxite (annually ) from Kindia to Conakry harbour. * Rio Tinto Limited planned to build a railway to 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 ...

from the

Simandou Simandou is a range of hills located in the Nzérékoré and Kankan regions of southeastern Guinea, in the country's mountainous, forested '' Guinée Forestière'' region. At the southern end of the range the site of a large iron ore deposit ...

mine to the coast, near Matakong, for export. This line has since been taken over by a Singapore led consortium. * Santou-Dapilon standard gauge railway Mining Railway
/ref> opened in 2021.

Rail links with other countries

* There are at present no railway connections between Guinea and its neighbouring countries.

References

External links