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Mauritania Railway

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0 km
Cansado
0 km
Nouadhibou
96 km
Boulenouar
222 km
Agueijit
255 km
Inal
318 km
Tmeimitschatt
393 km
Ben Amira
460 km
Choum
Choum Tunnel (Disused)
Mauritania–Western Sahara border
Mauritania–Western Sahara border
485 km
Char
568 km
Tuadschil
625 km
Fderîck
650 km
Zouérat
670 km
Guelb El Rhein mine
700 km
M'Haoudat mine
735 km
Storanville mine

The Mauritania Railway is the national railway of Mauritania. It consists of a single, 704-kilometre (437 mi) railway line linking the iron mining centre of Zouerate with the port of Nouadhibou, via Fderik and Choum. The state agency Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (SNIM) controls the railway line.

Since the closure of the Choum Tunnel, a 5km section of the railway cuts through the territory of Western Sahara.

Trains on the railway are up to 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) in length,[1] making them among the longest and heaviest in the world. They consist of 3 or 4 diesel-electric General Motors 3300HP locomotives, 200 to 210 cars each carrying up to 84 tons of iron ore, and a variable number of service cars. The total traffic averages 16.6 billion tons per year.

Mauritania Railway train at the station in Nouadhibou

Travelers' cars are also occasionally transported by train; these services are managed by an SNIM subsidiary, the ATTM Society (Société d'assainissement, de travaux, de transport et de maintenance). Passenger cars are sometimes attached, but more often passengers simply ride atop the ore cars.

References

  1. ^ "The ore train". Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière. Retrieved December 17, 2008. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)