The government of Cameroon plans to construct Edéa-Kribi-Campo & Douala-Limbe-Idenau railway lines, which are respectively 184.5 km and 107 km long, bringing a total of 291.5 kilometers of new railway line to the West African country’s rail network.
To this point, the government has carried out feasibility studies for the project with the help of Team Engineering, an international consultancy company specialized in engineering, architecture and planning, providing services to major public and private clients worldwide.
According to the feasibility studies, the proposed routes have minimal constraints and cross fewer watercourses and secondary roads. They are further designed with a double-track platform equipped with rails of 60 kg per meter for the main line and 50 kg per meter for the secondary line.
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They will have a standard gauge of a diesel traction with the possibility of electrification of the tracks in the future and an axle load of 21.5 tonnes.
The reference speed on the Edéa-Kribi-Campo rail line is expected to reach 160 km / h for passenger trains, and 120 km / h for freight trains.
Funding for the project
Team Engineering suggests that Cameroon should opt for a mode of financing on the model of the Public-Private Partnership, taking into account the high cost of the work. For example, the consulting firm estimates a cost of betweenUS$ 5.5M and US$ 7.2M per kilometer on the Edéa-Kribi Campo section and around US$ 13M on the Douala-Limbe-Idenau section.
The West African country is currently planning an investor’s round table to source financing for the project which upon completion will boost the national railway network and subsequently boost commercial exchanges between Cameroon and its neighboring countries.
The Edéa-Kribi-Campo railway will connect the Kribi deep seaport to Equatorial Guinea, through the border town Campo, while the Douala-Limbé-Idénau railway directly connects Douala to Nigeria, which has already developed a strong commercial tie with South-West Cameroon, through Idenau.
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