Rail transport in Burkina Faso

Train station in Koudougou, Burkina Faso.

There are 622 kilometres of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway in Burkina Faso, which run from Kaya to the border with Côte d'Ivoire and is part of the Abidjan-Ouagadougou railway. As of June 2024, 'Sitarail' does not operate a passenger train to Abidjan.

Burkina Faso is landlocked, but the railway to Abidjan provides rail access to a port. Links to railways in Ghana and the port of Takoradi have been repeatedly proposed.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Stations

The following towns of Burkina Faso are served by the country's railways:

- - border
Niangoloko
Banfora
Peni
Bobo-Dioulasso
Sala
Koudougou
Bingo
Ouagadougou (national capital)
Ziniaré (service suspended)
Kaya terminus

Construction resuming

(for 3MTpa manganese - 2014)?
Kaya (terminus)^[4]
Dori (approx. 100 km of the extension from Kaya to Dori; visible on Google Earth dated 15/2/07)
Markoye
Tambao (manganese),^[5] near Niger/Mali borders^[6]^[7]

Proposed

(1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge gauge)
Tamale
Navrongo
Bolgatanga
Paga
Border (Ghana-Burkina Faso)
Dakola
Pô
Bagré
Zabre
Tenkodogo
Manga
Ouagadougou - national capital - junction - break of gauge

Proposed

2011

On 31 November 2011, an agreement was signed to build a new international railway connecting Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Benin.^[8] See AfricaRail.

2014

Pan African Minerals to develop the Tambao manganese project at a cost of up to $1 billion. The manganese mine is in the north of Burkina Faso, near the border with Niger and Mali, containing perhaps 100 million tonnes of the metal (used in steel production). "The Tamboa project is an integrated project with a mining component and an infrastructure component, notably through the roads, railway and the port", said Romanian billionaire Frank Timis. "The project will happen in the next three years and will require investment of nearly $1 billion".^[9]^[10]

2018

Ghana and Ivory Coast sign a deal to develop a through rail link.

Ghana and Burkina Faso sign deal for link Link

Maps

UN Map (no longer shows railway lines). (Dead link, 12.09.23)
UNHCR Map Archived 18 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine (Dead link, 12.09.23)

Gallery

Buffer-and-screw coupler 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge gauge in Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.

References

^ "Railway Gazette: Essential renewals must pave the way for ambitious expansion strategy". Archived from the original on 10 December 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
^ "Railway Gazette: News in Brief". Retrieved 22 October 2010.
^ "2008-01-01". Retrieved 22 October 2010.
^ Times Atlas of the World 2007 p85
^ RailwayAfrica July 2009, p9
^ UNHCR Map shows extension to Tambao
^ "Railpage".
^ "Railway to Link West African States". Railways Africa. 18 January 2012.
^ "Railpage".
^ Burkina Faso gives green light for $1 bln manganese mine, Reuters