Rail transport in Sierra Leone

Railway network of Sierra Leone - Tonkolili extension not shown

  1067 mm gauge tracks (operational)

  762 mm gauge tracks (closed in 1974)

Freetown Cotton Tree station in 1915

There are 84 kilometres of railway in Sierra Leone, all of which is private and of a narrow gauge, 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in).

Network

Sierra Leone no longer has any common carrier railroads, as the 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge Sierra Leone Government Railway from Freetown through Bo to Kenema and Daru with a branch to Makeni closed in 1975. The country does not share rail links with adjacent countries, Guinea and Liberia.

The existing railway between the port of Pepel and the Marampa iron ore mine is being refurbished by African Minerals plc. This is a common carrier railway, but will be used predominantly for transporting iron ore. African Minerals is also constructing a new standard gauge railway from the Tonkolili iron ore mine to a new port at Tagrin Point.

See also

• Railway stations in Sierra Leone
• Transport in Sierra Leone

References

Bibliography

• Ashby, Helen (2020). The Sierra Leone Government Railway: from creation to preservation. Narrow Gauge Album No. 4. Chippenham, Wilts, UK: Mainline & Maritime. ISBN 9781900340755.
• Beale, Philip; Mitchell, Vic (2004). Sierra Leone Narrow Gauge. Narrow Gauge Branch Lines series. Midhurst, West Sussex, UK: Middleton Press. ISBN 9781904474289.