Few railway stations were built in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

during the 20th century. The ones that were built were by the Italians from the 1920s as part of their colonial administration. Today there are no functioning railway stations active in the country, but new ones are planned, as part of a new railroad system.

History

Between 1920 and 1936 the

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

built some five small railways in

Italian Libya Libya (; ) was a colony of Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica, Cyrenaica and Italian Tripolitan ...

. Served by a host of small stations, the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

built nearly 400 km of railways with gauge during their rule of the region. Nearly 40 minor and major railways stations were built in Libya by the

. The biggest and most important was located in Italian Tripoli. In 1965, the last remaining stations in

Benghazi Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...

and

Suluq Suluq () is a town in the Benghazi District of the Cyrenaica region in northeastern Libya. It is located about 53 kilometers to the south-east of Benghazi. Italian Libya Suluq is the site of a former Italian concentration camp for the nomadic t ...

were closed. No Italian-era stations are currently active. By the 1960s, there were only two small railways in

, departing from Benghazi and serving classical Littorine: Benghazi-Barce and Benghazi-Soluch. In 1965 last remaining stations in Benghazi and Soluch closed. Today no active railway exists in Libya.

Tripoli Station

''Tripoli station'' in the capital

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

, was the main terminal for western

, not far from the port and the

Tripoli International Fair Tripoli International Fair (TIF) () is an annual commercial exhibition and trade event taking place in Tripoli, Libya. It involves participants from North Africa and is organized by The General Board of Fairs (GBF). History The Tripoli Internatio ...

. The station was connected to the stations of Zuara, Tagiura and Garian by small but very active railways.

Benghazi Station

''Benghazi station'' was the second in importance, located in downtown

. It closed in 1963, when the last small railway of former Italian Libya, the ''Benghazi-Solluch line'', was closed and dismantled. Barce Stazione Centrale

Secondary Stations

Other important railways stations were those in: * Barce * Zuara * Garian * Soluch * Tagiura

New railway stations

Plans for a new rail network, complete with stations have been under development for some time since the end of the 20th century. In the first years of the 21st century an ambitious railway plan was drawn up, with the support of former dictator

Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by Libyan rebel forces in 2011. He came to power ...

. With backing from Russian Railways and China, work started in September 2008 with earthworks begun between

Sirte Sirte (; , ), also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is located south of the Gulf of Sirte, almost right in the middle between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups and loyal ...

and

Ras Ajdir Ras Ajdir, alternatively Ras Jdir or Ras Ejder (), is a small coastal town in far eastern Tunisia and is situated on the eastern border with Libya. Science It is the site of an experimental station for wind and solar power generation for desalina ...

, Tunisia border, in 2001-5, and in 2008 and 2009 various contracts were placed and construction work started on a

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 parallel to the coast from the Tunisian border at

, and on to

Misrata Misrata ( ; , Libyan Arabic: ; also spelled Misratah and known by the Italian spelling Misurata) is a city in northwestern Libya located in the Misrata District, situated to the east of Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. ...

and Bayda. Another railway line will run inland from

to Sabha at the centre of a

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

-rich area. However, due to the ongoing conflict as a result of the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the United Nations Demographic Yearbooks ...

, no new work on the rail network has been carried out since 2012.

References

Bibliography

Le ferrovie coloniali italiane in Libia (in Italian)