Côte d'Ivoire has a railway line of 1,260 km that connects it to Burkina Faso, with 639 km on national territory and 621 km in Burkina Faso.
The operation of the railway infrastructure has been entrusted to SITARAIL since 1994. This change in operator has allowed for a doubling of freight traffic over a period of 5 years, increasing from 504,000 tons in 1996 to over one million tons in 2001. Since that time, the activity has fluctuated around one million tons of goods per year. For the entire year of 2022, freight traffic in rail transport was recorded at 886,815 tons compared to 993,599 tons in 2021, representing a decrease of 10.75%.
As for passenger traffic, it has seen a continuous decline from 2014 to 2019, dropping from 170,738 to 107,800. This traffic has been suspended since 2020 due to COVID-19 related restrictions.
Evolution of Rail Traffic
|
Indicator |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
Total Goods Transported (thousands of tons)a |
888.7 |
869.0 |
804.9 |
997 |
809.6 |
799.7 |
936.6 |
1016.2 |
983.2 |
993.6 |
886.815 |
|
Number of Passengers Transported (thousands) |
272.9 |
292.8 |
170.7 |
168.4 |
ND |
139.3 |
124.7 |
107.8 |
ND |
ND |
ND |
a : Including intra-Burkina Faso traffic
Source : Ministry of Transport
The development of rail transport remains limited due to the inadequacy and obsolescence of infrastructure and operating equipment.
Rehabilitation works for the Abidjan-Ouagadougou-Kaya (Mali) railway and its extension to Tambao (Burkina Faso) were launched in 2017 for approximately 262 billion CFA francs.
As part of improving urban mobility, the city of Abidjan will have its first metro line by 2025, spanning 37.5 km along the north-south axis connecting the municipalities of Port-Bouët and Anyama. The main structures to be built as part of this project include: 20 stations; 40 platforms; 21 rail/road bridges; 1 viaduct; 40 pedestrian walkways.
In addition, the following projects are planned:
- the construction of the Côte d'Ivoire - Mali railway (Ouangolodougou - Niellé - Sikasso - Bougouni - Bamako) of 338 km, of which 86 km in Côte d'Ivoire, at an estimated cost of 123 billion CFA francs;
- the construction of the Man (Côte d'Ivoire) - Nzérékoré (Guinea Conakry) railway, 181 km long, at an estimated cost of 127 billion CFA francs, of which 151 km in Côte d'Ivoire for the joint exploitation of iron ore from Guinea;
- the construction of the Abidjan-San Pedro-Tabou railway at a cost of 308 billion CFA francs;
- the construction of the Man-San Pedro-Odienné-Mali Border railway at a cost of 872 billion CFA francs;
- the "RAIL CITY" project for the enhancement of the land assets of SIPF in Plateau, with an investment of approximately 300 billion CFA francs.
Note: Ouangolodougou and Niellé are Ivorian cities, while Sikasso, Bougouni, and Bamako are Malian cities.