Angola wants to build national railway network

The government of Angola plans to build a railway line to link the country’s three current railways, thus establishing a national railway network, Angola’s Transport Minister said in Lubango.
Minister Augusto Tomás, speaking at the opening of a seminar on rail transport in Angola, said that the project includes construction of logistics platforms in various locations along the route of the line.
“The government has set as a priority the doubling of the Luanda railway between the stations of Baía and Bungo (near Uige) and construction of a branch line between Baía and the new international airport in the capital, which includes four level crossings,” the minister said, cited by daily newspaper Jornal de Angola.
Tomás also mentioned construction of the northern railway, between Luanda, Uige and Mbanza Congo, with a subsequent link to the port of Soyo and the connection between the the Benguela railway starting near the municipality of Luacano, in Moxico, and the eastern border with Zambia.
This extension provides a connection to Zambia and transportation of ore from the region of the copper mines to international markets via the ore terminal at the port of Lobito.
Tomás also announced preparation of a feasibility study “for the construction of the missing link at the end of the CFB railway, near Lobito.”
Augusto Tomás called for a study to define models of financing and construction, including an analysis of the involvement of the private sector in the construction and management of infrastructure and transport services.  MDT/Macauhub