The first railway in what was then the Haute Volta region of French West Africa opened in 1934, with the arrival at Bobo-Dioulasso of the metre gauge railway from Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire. The line was extended in stages to Ouagadougou, which it reached in 1954.
After the two countries gained independence in 1960, the railway was jointly administered by the two governments. The situation prevailed until 1994, when a concession for the entire railway was awarded to a private operator, Sitarail.
The line from Abidjan to Ouagadougou (about 517km of which lies in Burkina Faso) remains the only operational line in the country. In the 1980s, work began on an extension of the line from Ouagadougou to Tambao; work was completed as far as Kaya (a distance of about 103km), but by the early 21st century this section was out of use, though retained in serviceable condition.
In 2006, a proposal emerged for a new railway from Ouagadougou to Pô on the border with Ghana, to provide a cross border connection with Ghana Railways; however this proposal appears not to have progressed beyond the stage of initial study.
In 2011, consultants began design work on a new line to Niamey, capital of Niger. The route would follow the existing (disused) line from Ouagadougou to Kaya (103km), then the route of the proposes Tambao extension as far as Dori (170km), whence it would turn east towards Terá and Niamey in Niger. The total distance from Ouagadougou to Niamey would be 420km. The line would be built to standard (1435mm) gauge, and could be accompanied by regauging of the Abidjan line to standard gauge.
© 2006-2011
Glyn Williams
Flag image from CIA World Factbook
