Mauritania Railway
| Mauritania Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Map of Mauritania Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 21°17′53″N 13°02′51″W / 21.29799°N 13.0476°W | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 704 km (437 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Mauritania Railway is the national railway of Mauritania. Opened in 1963,[1] 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 (National Mining and Industrial Company, SNIM) controls the railway line.
Since the closure of the Choum Tunnel, a 5 km (3.1 mi) section of the railway cuts through the Polisario Front-controlled part of the Western Sahara (21°21′18″N 13°00′46″W / 21.354867°N 13.012644°W).
History
Traffic
Trains on the railway are up to 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) in length,[2] making them among the longest and heaviest in the world. They consist of 3 or 4 diesel-electric EMD locomotives, 200 to 210 cars each carrying up to 84 tons of iron ore, and 2-3 service cars. The total traffic averages 16.6 million tons per year.
Passengers are also occasionally transported by train; these services are managed by an SNIM subsidiary, the société d'Assainissement, de Travaux, de Transport et de Maintenance (abb. ATTM).[3] Passenger cars are sometimes attached to freight trains, but more often passengers simply ride atop the ore hopper cars.[4]
In January of 2019 the railway also re-opened to tourism after a ten year hiatus due to safety reasons. [5]
Locomotives
In October 2010, SNIM ordered six EMD SD-70ACS locomotives, with special modifications for operating in high temperatures.[6]
Glencore Xstrata
In 2014, the mining company Glencore paid $1 billion for 18 years of access to SNIM's rail and port infrastructure, which would be connected to branch lines to new iron mines at Askaf and Guelb El Aouj. The deal would have saved the company the cost of constructing their own tracks and facilities.[7] However, Glencore backed out of the project just one year later after the price of iron ore tumbled nearly 40%.[8]
See also
- Economy of Mauritania
- History of rail transport in Mauritania
- Transport in Mauritania
- Railway stations in Mauritania
- Enclave and exclave - crossborder shortcut to avoid tunnel
References
Notes
- ^ "Mauritania, a Nation of Moorish Nomads, Suddenly Finds Herself in 20th Century". The New York Times. January 20, 1964.
last June, the 20th century elbowed its way into this Biblical picture
- ^ "The ore train". Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière. Archived from the original on September 19, 2008. Retrieved December 17, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.attm.mr/index.php/entreprise/presentation
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiRD3GcjmKk&t=521s
- ^ "Desert train of Mauritania running again after 10 years". www.euronews.com. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Railway Gazette: High temperature locomotives ordered from EMD". Retrieved 2010-10-30.
- ^ http://www.railpage.com.au/f-t11332401.htm (registration required)
- ^ Ker, Peter (11 March 2015). "Glencore abandons Mauritania iron ore project after $US1bn investment". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
Further reading
- Robinson, Neil (2009). World Rail Atlas and Historical Summary. Volume 7: North, East and Central Africa. Barnsley, UK: World Rail Atlas Ltd. ISBN 978-954-92184-3-5.
External links
- SNIM train site
- Train images at Adventures in Mauritania
- Map of railway route
- This Sahara Railway Is One of the Most Extreme in the World (National Geographic's Short Film Showcase)
- Hot, free and dangerous: A train ride in Mauritania (Washington Post)
- The iron trains of Mauritania (Al Jazeera)
- Train to (almost) nowhere in Mauritania (New York Times)
- Atop a long train in Africa, heading for change (Reuters)
- The Mauritania Railway: Backbone of the Sahara, a short documentary film.
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