Railways in

Côte d’Ivoire

In 2019, STIB purchased several trainsets from the Swiss Appenzeller Bahnen for use on the Abidjan to Ouagadougou route.
The picture shows one of the vehicles being loaded for transport to Africa.

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 (present day Burkina Faso), which it reached in 1954. The 660km section of this line that lies within Côte d’Ivoire remains the only railway in the country.

In 2014, a contract was awarded for the construction of a 37km light rail metro in Abidjan, connecting the city with northern and southern suburbs and the airport.

In 2015, a feasibility study was authorised for a new 1000km railway from the port of San-Pédro to Bamako in Mali.

• Sitarail concession holder for the line from Abidjan to Ouagadougou (No website located at present)
• Abidjan proposed Metro (Site in French)