Chemins de fer des Uele (Uele Railways or Vicicongo line) is a
narrow-gauge
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 tighter curv ...
line in the north east of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
. It was built between 1924 and 1937 as a
portage railway bypassing Congo River rapids.
Route
The line runs from the
Congo River
The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...
port
Bumba in
Mongala
Mongala is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Mongala, Équateur, Nord-Ubangi, Sud-Ubangi, and Tshuapa provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Équateur pro ...
via
Lower Uele to
Mungbere in
Upper Uele with branch lines to
Bondo,
Buta and
Titule city.
The total network is long.
[Durrant, A.E., A.A. Jorgensen, C.P. Lewis. Steam in Africa, London, 1981, Hamlyn.]
Operationally, the network consists of the following sections:
* Bumba–Aketi
* Aketi–Bondo
* Aketi–Buta–Isiro
* Liénart–Titule
* Buta–Buta Triangle Town
* Isiro–Mungbere
History
The Uele railways were built 1924–1937 by a Belgian company, the
Société des Chemins de Fer Vicinaux du Congo (Vicicongo). The first line ran from Aketi to Bondo and was built from leftover German army stocks used in
trench railways
A trench railway was a type of railway that represented military adaptation of early 20th-century railway technology to the problem of keeping soldiers supplied during the static trench warfare phase of World War I. The large concentrations of so ...
or
heeresfeldbahnen, which the Belgians acquired after
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Later, the line was extended from
Komba to Buta Pauli (today Isiro) and Mungbere, which was reached in 1937. A planned expansion to the gold mines of
Moto never materialized. In 1971 the railway was extended from
Aketi along the
Itimbiri river, to
Bumba along the
Congo River
The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...
, as the water level of the rivers may be only 40 cm, thus functioning as a
portage railway. In the early 2000s, operations on the entire length of the line ceased. The system is currently not operational, and was described by
United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC) in 2006 as 'very degraded'. A few trains ran in 2002/3. Bumba-Aketi was reopened in October 2004 after 14 years non operating. Up to 2008,
Radio Okapi
Radio Okapi is a radio network that operates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On an annual budget of USD$4.5 million, a staff of 200 provide news and information to the entire urban population of the DRC. Radio Okapi provides programming ...
mentioned from time to time some trains in the Eastern parts. The line is not mentioned in the UNJLC description of the network. That and its very narrow gauge suggest it may be abandoned. This line and the Bumba river port belong to the Office of the Uele Railways.
[Information given at the Ministry of Transportation at Gombe in juin 2010.]
Operators
*1924: Builder and operator of the company was the Chemins de fer Vicinaux du Congo, CVC, colloquially Vicicongo; (Flemish: Buurtspoorwegen van Congo), based in Brussels.
*1960: After independence a Congolese company of the same name based in Aketi took over operations. Later the name was changed to Chemins de Fer Vicinaux Zaire (CVZ).
*1974:
Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Zaïrois (SNCZ), merger of K.D.L., C.F.L, C.V.Z. (Chemins de Fer Vicinaux Zaire), C.F.M.K. and C.F.M.
*1991: Dissolution of SNCZ, founding of SNCZ Holding and its subsidiaries O.C.S. (Office des Chemins de Fer du Sud, French Office for the Southern Railway), SFE (Société des Chemins de Fer de l'Est, French for Eastern Railway Company) and CFU (Office des Chemins de Fer of ülés, for French-Uele Railways).
Today the Uele railways are state-owned.
See also
*
Rail transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
References
{{DRC Railways
600 mm gauge railways in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Railway lines opened in 1937
Railway lines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
1937 establishments in the Belgian Congo