The “Conakry Express” train, which links Guinea’s capital with its suburbs, began operations this week after a ten-month break, an AFP journalist and the national railway company said.
According to the AFP journalist, thousands of people boarded the train on Wednesday morning as it departed from a suburban district in the direction of Kaloum, Conakry’s administrative and commercial hub.
The train has resumed operations since Monday, Naby Badra Souaré, director of the National Railway Company of Guinea (SNCG), which controls the infrastructure, told AFP.
The connection was interrupted in January to enable the Russian group Rusal to compensate for a delay in the supply of bauxite shipments, according to the SNCG.
Rusal, which extracts and exports bauxite from Guinea, owns the rail line used by the “Conakry Express”.
The train’s resumption was made possible by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya’s “sagacity” as president of the junta in power since September 5, and “the understanding” of Rusal, said Mr. Souaré.
Following the September 5 coup, “we immediately told (the new authorities) that in order to satisfy the population’s needs in terms of urban transport, there is a passenger train that could play an active role in reducing the transport deficit,” Souaré said.
“We transport more than 3,000 people a day. Seeing the population (facing) traffic jams and the advantage of the train, we are obliged to make sure that the train does not stop. This is what we promised our leaders and this is what we are doing,” explained Abou Keïta, technical manager of the Conakry Express.
Conakry Express, which began operations in 2010, runs two daily trips between Conakry and its suburbs, passing through a dozen stations over a 36-kilometer route at a ticket price of 4,000 Guinean francs (0.36 euros). Its connections have been disrupted many times owing to a variety of breakdowns.
Downtown Conakry, where thousands of people converge daily, is located on a peninsula that is subject to endemic traffic jams.
