The first railway in what was then the German protectorate of Kamerun was a privately owned narrow gauge line opened in 1902 from Victoria (present day Limbe) to Soppo, near Buea, a distance of 43km. The first public railway was a 160km line from Douala to a point near Mount Mananguba, opened in 1910. It was built to metre gauge, then in common use for minor railways in Germany. The line was completed through to Yaoundé under French administration between the First and Second World Wars.
Metre gauge was also used for subsequent expansion, which consisted of a number of branches from the original main line and a new 667km main line from Yaoundé to Ngaoundéré, opened in 1987 by the Republic. A concession for the entire network was awarded to a private operator in 1999.
Up to the present day, there are no international connections.
A new 510km standard gauge railway is under construction which will connect iron ore mining operations in the Mbarga area of southeastern Cameroon with a new Atlantic port south of Kribi. A proposed 70km extension from Mbarga would serve a new mine at Mont Nabemba in the Republic of the Congo.
© 2006-2011
Glyn Williams
Flag image from CIA World Factbook
