• Congo launches $595 million Congo-Ocean Railway overhaul
• Project to replace tracks, repair bridges, modernize stations
• Upgrade aims to boost regional transit via Pointe-Noire

The Republic of the Congo last week launched a $595 million rehabilitation and modernization project for the Congo-Ocean Railway, aiming to bring the line back into service, improve passenger and freight transport, and strengthen the country’s role as a regional transit hub.

The project includes replacing old rails and wooden sleepers with prefabricated reinforced concrete sleepers, fully rebuilding sections of track, repairing bridges and other structures along the line, and renovating the main tunnel. It also provides for the acquisition of new passenger coaches and freight wagons, as well as the modernization of maintenance workshops and key stations in Pointe-Noire, Dolisie, Nkayi, Madingou, Bouansa, Loutété, Mindouli and Brazzaville.

Built between 1921 and 1934, the 512-km line was the main transport link between Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire. Years of infrastructure deterioration shifted most passenger and freight traffic to the road network, increasing financial, environmental and safety costs.

Beyond improving rail services, the project is part of a broader strategy to strengthen the port of Pointe-Noire’s position as a regional hub, particularly for landlocked or neighboring countries such as the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad.

However, securing financing, meeting implementation deadlines, ensuring construction quality and establishing a sustainable maintenance system will be critical to the project’s long-term viability.

Henoc Dossa