One of the goals of ECOWAS is the development of an integrated railway network.

Overview

Aims include:

• extension of railway to countries lacking thereof

• interconnect on previously separate railways

• standardisation of gauge, brakes, couplings, and other parameters.

Proposed lines

• The first line would connect the cities and ports of Lagos
  Lagos
  Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
  
  , Cotonou
  Cotonou
  -Demographics:*1979: 320,348 *1992: 536,827 *2002: 665,100 *2005: 690,584 The main languages spoken in Cotonou include the Fon language, Aja language, Yoruba language and French.-Transport:...
  
  , Lomé
  Lomé
  Lomé, with an estimated population of 737,751, is the capital and largest city of Togo. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center and its chief port. The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels...
  
   and Accra
  Accra
  Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
  
   and would allow the largest container ships to focus on a smaller number of large ports, while efficiently serving a larger number of smaller localities in the hinterland. This line connects cape gauge
  Cape gauge
  Cape gauge is a track gauge of between the inside of the rail heads and is classified as narrow gauge. It has installations of around .The gauge was first used by Norwegian engineer Carl Abraham Pihl and the first line was opened in 1862.- Nomenclature :...
  
   and metre gauge
  Metre gauge
  Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...
  
   systems, which would require four rail dual gauge, which can also provide standard gauge
  Standard gauge
  The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
  
  .

Gauge (railway)

Transport

Transport in Benin

This article concerns modes of transport in Benin. Benin is a country in Africa, which possesses railway and road infrastructure, as well as two seaports. Benin currently does not have rail connections to other countries, but new proposals seek to change this....

 
(island)
---- Transport

Transport in Côte d'Ivoire

- Railways :As of 2004, the nation’s railway system consisted of a state-controlled 660 km section of a 1,146 km narrow gauge railroad that ran north from Abidjan through Bouaké and Ferkéssédougou to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.total:660 km...

  Transport

Transport in Burkina Faso

This article concerns the systems of transport in Burkina Faso, which primarily include road and rail infrastructure.- Railways :There are 622 kilometres of railway in Burkina Faso, of which 517 km run from Ouagadougou to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; and 105 km from Ouagadougou to Kaya. All...

 
---- (nil) Transport

Transport in Ghana

Transport in Ghana is accomplished by road, rail, air and water. Ghana's transportation and communications networks are centered in the southern regions, especially the areas in which gold, cocoa, and timber are produced...

  proposed conversion to (nil) Transport

Transport in Liberia

- Railways :Historically, three railways were built in Liberia to export ore from mines; they were damaged during civil war, and as of August 2010 only one had been brought back into service....

 ; (nil) Transport

Transport in Nigeria

Decaying infrastructure is one of the deficiencies that Nigeria’s National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy seeks to address. The government has begun to repair the country’s poorly maintained road network. Because Nigeria’s railways are in a parlous condition, the government is trying...

 ;
---- Transport

Transport in Senegal

- Railways :total: 906 kmnarrow gauge: 906 km of gauge - Maps :* * - Ground transport :There were an estimated 4,271 km of paved roads and 10,305 km of unpaved roads as of 1996....

  Transport

Transport in Mali

Mali's transportation infrastructure is regarded as poor, even by regional standards, and deficiencies have limited economic growth and development. Nevertheless, improvements have been noted in the early 2000s...

 
---- Transport

Transport in Sierra Leone

There are a number of systems of transport in Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa, which possess road, rail, air and water infrastructure, including a network of highways and several airports.- Railways :...

  Transport

Transport in Togo

- Railways :total:525 km narrow gauge:525 km of gauge- Standards :* Coupling - Centre buffer and two side chains* Brakes - Vacuum brake - Railway links with adjacent countries :...

 
(suspended) Transport

Transport in Guinea

- Railways :total:1,086 kmstandard gauge:279 km gaugemetre gauge:807 km gauge The lines do not all connect.- Northern line :...

;
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Summary of different gauges:
4,472 km 42.7%     4,593 km 43.9% 1,409 km 13.5%

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Couplings