thumb|upright=1.3|Diagrammatic Map of rail and other methods of surface transport in the DRC.
Railways are in black.
Rail transport is provided in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo (SNCC), the Office National des Transports (ONATRA), and the Office des Chemins de fer des Ueles (CFU).
The national system is mostly operated by the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo, SNCC.
Not all rail lines link up, but are generally connected by river transport.
The rail systems are listed below.Railways in Southern Africa.
This source does not distinguish between operational and non-functioning lines.UNJLC Map number: UNJLC DRC 001 (7 MB) .
This source distinguishes between 'operational' and 'very degraded' lines, but detail on some sections is obscured by roads.Rail Network Description at UNJLC.
Retrieved 2 June 2007.
Routes
Matadi-Kinshasa Railway: From Matadi Harbour to Kinshasa via Songolo, Kimpese, Mbanza-Ngungu and Kasangulu, operated by ONATRA,  gauge, constructed as  gauge; three trains a week.
In 1928, Congo (Belgium) and Angola (Portugal) did a land exchange to facilitate the new route of the railway to Kinshasa.  [Railways Africa 2014 issue 5, p29]
This line is a bypass of the Livingstone Falls on the Congo River, known as a portage railway.
Upstream from the Kinshasa river port, water transport reaches about two-thirds of the country.
The line lost traffic to road transport when the Matadi-Kinshasa road was re-established in 2000, and it is now planned to revitalize it with Chinese help.Le Potentiel, 16 August 2006.
An agreement was signed in July 2006 between ONATRA and a Chinese company (CMIC) which will renovate the track, trains, telecommunications, signal system and electric supply.
The line reopened in September 2015 after around a decade without regular service.
As of April 2016 there was one passenger trip per week along the line and more frequent service was planned.
Vicicongo line: Bumba (Congo river port) - Aketi - Buta - Likati - Isiro - Mungbere, with branch lines to Bondo and Titule;  narrow gauge.
The line was opened by the Société des Chemins de Fer Vicinaux du Congo between 1926 and 1937.
It was 1235 km (741 mi) long.Durrant, A.E., A.A. Jorgensen, C.P. Lewis.
Steam in Africa, London, 1981, Hamlyn.
Great lakes line first section: Kisangani (Congo River port) to Ubundu (upper Congo River port), .www.bck-kdl.be/Ligne Stanleyville-Ponthierville  This line is a bypass (portage railway) of the Stanley Falls on the Congo River.
A train runs after arrival at Kisangani of a ship from Kinshasa or before departure of a ship to Kinshasa, which may happen about every 2 to 3 month, no fixed schedule.
There is no connecting boat service between Ubundu and Kindu on the Lualaba River (the upper Congo).
Great lakes line second section: Kindu (Lualaba River port) - Kibombo – Kongolo – Kabalo (Lualaba River port and junction with Katanga line) - Nyunzu – Niemba – Kalemie (the port on Lake Tanganyika), .
This line was  gauge like the first section until 1955, when the gauge was changed for the connection with the Katanga line in 1956.
Just north of Kongolo, the Lualaba is unnavigable due to the rapids named Portes D'Enfer ('Gates of Hell').
The track between Kalemie and Niemba is described by UNJLC in 2006 as 'very degraded' and may not be operational.
Boats to Moba and Kalundu-Uvira on Lake Tanganyika used to connect with trains at Kalemie.
In 1917 a train ferry was introduced on the lake operating from Kalemie, but is long gone.
Katanga line: Kabalo (Lualaba River port and junction with Great Lakes line) – Kamungu - Katumba – Kabongo (or a town 8 km south-east) – Kamina (junction with Kasia line) - Bukama (Lualaba River port) – Tenke (junction with Benguela Railway) - Likasi – Lubumbashi - Sakania - Zambia, .
There are a number of short branch lines in the mining areas between Tenke and Kolwezi.
The section from near Kabongo to Kamina was described by UNJLC in 2006 as 'very degraded'.
Kamina - Lubumbashi section will be straighter, fully grade-separated route to use  track gauge in July 2019 and fully electrified with minimum overhead wiring height at 6.75m above top of the rails.
However, this will make break-of-gauge (1520mm/1435mm) creation at several junctions (to Kenya, to Mozambique, and to Angola) and northern border region.
Kasai line: Ilebo (Kasai River port) – Kananga – Mwene Ditu – Kaniama - Kamina (junction with Katanga line), .
This connects the Katanga line to the river port at Ilebo from where boats can reach Kinshasa.
Freight is transferred to river barges, but in 2006 UNJLC reports the river service operates sporadically.
On 1 August 2007 a passenger train ran out of control on the line 170 km north-west of Kananga and 7 coaches overturned, killing about 100 people.
Katanga-Benguela line: A branch of the Katanga Railway was built from Tenke junction just north-west of Likasi via Kolwezi to Dilolo at the Angolan border to connect with the Benguela Railway  from Luau to the Atlantic port of Lobito.
This allowed through passenger trains to run between Lubumbashi and Lobito, and freight trains to carry copper from the Zambian and Katangan Copperbelts to a seaport for the export of copper.
It was this purpose which provided the investment for the Benguela Railway.
It did not operate through Angola from the 1970s, due to the civil war there.
The line between Kolwezi and Dilolo was described by UNJLC in 2006 as 'very degraded'.
It reopened in 2018.
The following lines have been completely removed and are not listed for future rehabilitation:
Mayumbe line: Boma to Tshela, 1889–1984,  gauge, 137 km long and opened in stages from 1901 to 1913.
removed in 1984.Closed "owing to its lack of profitability" (Inter Rail No. 2/1997); Mobutu also closed the bank branches and industry in this region (Le Potentiel No. 3700/2006).
Kivu Railway: Kalundu-Uvira-Kamaniola (- Bukavu), 1931–1958, .Blanchart, Charles: Le Rail au Congo Belge 1920–1945.
Bruxelles: Blanchart, 1999
Forminière railway 1923-1955  Followed the river Kasai from Charlesville to Makumbi.
Track totals
4772 km (2002), 5138 km (1995);  narrow gauge:
3621 km  gauge (858 km electrified); (2002)
3987 km  gauge (858 km electrified); (1996)
125 km   gauge; (2002) ev.
transformed to  gauge in 1955www.bck-kdl.be
1026 km  gauge (2002);
Railway links to adjacent countries
There is only one currently functioning international link:
Zambia - yes - same gauge - , connects with railways of Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.
This link is currently not operating:
Angola - yes - same gauge - .
The link to the ports of Benguela and Lobito was unusable from the 1970s, but has been rehabilitated.
The Angolan transport minister Augusto Tomás promised the reconstruction up to the border station at Luau in Moxico province by the end of 2012.
The focus was then be on the line from Dilolo to Kolwezi.
The line reopened in 2018.
In 2012, Angola started plans for a line from Luanda via the Matadi Bridge to the enclave of Cabinda province which necessarily crosses Congo territory, with a junction with Congo's Matadi-Kinshasa Railway.
There are boat links to rail lines in these neighbouring countries:
Republic of Congo - no direct link, but ordinary ferries across the Congo River from Kinshasa to Brazzaville can take passengers and freight to the Congo-Ocean Railway (same gauge ) which runs from Brazzaville to the Atlantic port of Pointe Noire.
Tanzania - no direct link but boats take freight between Kalemie and Kigoma, from where Tanzania's Central Line runs to the seaport of Dar es Salaam; there once was a train ferry from Kalemie built in 1917; break of gauge /.
These neighbouring countries have rail systems, but there are no links from the Congo:
South Sudan - no - same gauge
Uganda - no - break of gauge /.
These neighbouring countries have no rail systems: Central African Republic, Rwanda and Burundi.
Proposed rail projects
In September 2007 it was reported that China would provide US$5 billion for new infrastructure projects including rehabilitation and construction of new sections to link Sakania and Lubumbashi to Matadi (3200 km), to be completed in 3 years."
China Invests In DRC Transport Infrastructure."
OT Africa Line website, dated 17/9/07, source AFP.
A line from Uganda to Kasese was proposed in 2005."
African projects deserve support".
Railway Gazette International September 2005
In 2012, a new or rehabilitated  gauge line was proposed from Kisangani to the port of Lamu in Kenya.
In 2019, the SNCC reached a $500 million agreement with Russian Railways for the company to help upgrade the DRC's railway system.Kavanagh, Michael (26 October 2019).
Russian Railways, DR Congo to Discuss Possible $500m Rail Deal.
Bloomberg.
Criticism
The rail network in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has experienced numerous accidents due to poor maintenance.
The death toll is frequently high, partly due to the practice of train surfing.
A major accident in August 2007 lead to the deaths of over 100 people at Benaleka, Kasai-Occidental.
In April 2014, 48 people were killed and 160 injured when an SNCC train derailed near Katongola, Katanga Province.
33 were killed in a further incident in November 2017 near Lubudi, Lualaba Province.
32 were killed in an accident in Kasai Province in March 2019.
In September 2019 at least 50 persons died as a result of a derailment in Tanganyika.
Locomotives
On 3 November 2008, four diesel-electric locomotives were supplied to the DRC from China.
These are 1,800 hp Co-Co locomotives, model CKD7C, built  by the CRN Dalian.
Gallery
File:Locomotive ndolo.jpg|Steam locomotive of 1898 File:Sheltam 33-200.jpg|Ex-SAR 33-200 locomotive (33-219) now owned by Sheltam and doing duty in DRC Congo for SNCC Maps
UN Map West
UN Map East
Stations served by rail
See also
Economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Transport in Angola
References
Notes
Further reading
Le rail au Congo belge (3 vols. 1993–1999)
External links
