The Republic of the Congo (capital: Brazzaville) should not be confused with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (capital: Kinshasa)
The first railway in what was then the Middle Congo region of French Equatorial Africa opened in 1934 from Brazzaville to the new port of Pointe Noire. Unusually for a French colony, the gauge chosen was 1067mm: probably because that gauge was already in use in the neighbouring Belgian Congo, although there was no connection between the systems.
This 509km line, together with a 285km branch from Mont Belo to M'Binda, remain the only railways in the country. There are no international connections.
