Trans-Gabon Railway

The plan to create a railway in Gabon appeared back in 1885 , but it was not implemented. The first site studies for the future railway line were carried out in 1968 , the allocation of funds for the construction was approved in 1973, and the construction itself began the following year.

The first section of the railway from Ovendo to Ndjole opened in 1978 , the following sections were built and began to operate until December 1986 . The cost of building a railway far exceeded the planned budget and almost brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy. The last stretch of road to Franceville opened in 1987.

The most important engineering structures of the Trans-Gabon railway are the 278-meter long Jakville tunnel, a viaduct over a swampy area near the Abanga River, and a bridge at the confluence of the Ogove and Ivindo rivers.

In 2001, 3 million tons of cargo and 280,000 passengers were transported by the Trans-Gabon Railway.

• The Trans-Gabon Railway is the only railway in Central Africa that was not built in colonial times.
• The Trans-Gabon Railway crosses the Ogove River five times.
• Passengers are transported only three days a week.

• Minko Monique. 1983. Les communications Terrestres. in Geographie et Cartographie du Gabon, Atlas Illustré led by The Ministère de l'Education Nationale de la Republique Gabonaise. Pg 86-87. Paris, France: Edicef
• Périquet & Audoin (1913), Missions d'études au Gabon. Chemin de fer du Nord et mission hydrographique , Publication du Comité de l'Afrique française, Paris , < http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57592862 >  
• Marc Aicardi de Saint-Paul (1989), "5. Infrastructures: The Transgabon Railway" , Gabon: the development of a nation , Routledge, p. 65–67 , < https://books.google.com/books?id=PYI9AAAAIAAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA65#v=onepage&q&f=false >  
• Bernard Peyrot (2006), "Le Transgabonais - Vecteur économique stratégique du développement du Gabon" , in Jean-Louis Chaléard, Le chemin de fer en Afrique , KARTHALA Editions, p. 307–322 , < https://books.google.com/books?id=qdyuZ3h-EusC&lpg=PA2&pg=PA307#v=onepage&q&f=false >  
• "Transport Overview: Rail" , The Report: Gabon 2010 , Oxford Business Group, p. 127 , < https://books.google.com/books?id=69tc87BdhCsC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA127#v=onepage&q&f=false >  
• Katharine Murison, ed. (2002), Africa South of the Sahara 2003 (32 ed.), Europa Publications Limited / Routledge, p. 414-415, 426 , < https://books.google.com/books?id=1KBP7QbalX0C >  
• Sven Wunder (2003), Quand le Syndrome Néerlandais rencontre la French Connection: Pétrole, Macroéconomie et Forêts au Gabon , CIFOR, p. 34-27 (section 5.2), ISBN 979-3361-35-2 , < https://books.google.com/books?id=7hSY8cjmPKkC >  

• Transgabon Railway (Transgabonais) (Gabon), Railway systems and operators , Jane's , < http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-World-Railways/Transgabon-Railway-Transgabonais-Gabon.html >  
• UN Map