The first railway in Côte d'Ivoire, then part of French West Africa, opened in 1905 from Abidjan to Azaguié, a distance of some 70km. It was built to metre gauge, then in common use for minor railways in France. The line was extended in stages to Ouagadougou in Haute Volta (now Burkina Faso), which it reached in 1954. It remains the only railway in Côte d'Ivoire.
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.
