DRC train problems

[John Ashworth]

DRC TRAIN PROBLEMS

Railways Africa On January 18, 2012 In DRC (Congo)

According to a recent BBC programme, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – twelfth largest country in the world – covers 2,344,858 km2. Fourth most populated state in Africa, “It has more than 70% of the world’s coltan, used to make vital components of mobile phones, 30% of the planet’s diamond reserves and vast deposits of cobalt, copper and bauxite.” The capital Kinshasa is home to more than 8 million.

Rail routes total 3,641km officially but almost nothing is running. When it does, journeys that should take hours run into days and derailments are endemic. Current hopes centre on World Bank assistance to restore the badly run-down infrastructure.