The Moçâmedes Railway is a 907 km railway line in Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

, between Namibe

Namibe

Namibe is the capital city of Namibe Province in Angola. It is a coastal desert city located in southwestern Angola and was founded in 1840 by the Portuguese rulers of the territory. The city's current population is 132,900...

 (which was called Moçâmedes until 1985) and Menongue

Menongue

Menongue is a town and municipality in Cuando Cubango Province in Angola.It is the terminus of the southern railway from Namibe.-History:Menongue, formerly Serpa Pinto, was originally named for Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto, a late 19th-century Portuguese explorer of the interior of...

 in Cuando Cubango province.

(Portugese: Linha de Moçâmedes) (later the "Namibe Railway") (Portugese: Caminho-de-ferro do Namibe) .

Original two foot gauge railway

The railway was originally built in the colonial era, 1905, with a 600mm gauge, and was 249 km in length .

Regauging to Cape gauge

In 1950 the line was re-gauged to 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 :...

 (1067mm).
severely damaged by years of civil war

Angolan Civil War

The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...

 in Angola, but rehabilitation began in 2006 with support from China. As of March 2009, 89 km had been restored, between Matala

Matala

Matala is a village located 75 km south-west of Heraklion, Crete. Matala is part of the municipality of Tympaki, and Heraklion Prefecture.- History :...

 and Dongo.

In November 2010, it was announced that the reconstruction was being managed by RITES, and that it would have 56 stations. There are plans to buy 9 new locomotives plus 54 passenger coaches from a Chinese manufacturer.

The railway is expected to serve mines at Chamutete

Chamutete

Chamutete is a town in southern Angola. Chamutete is also spelled Techamutete. It lies in Huíla Province.- Transport :It is currently terminus for a branch railway from Dongo on the Southern Railway system. In 2007, talks between Angola and Namibia were considering the interlinking of their...

 and Cassinga

Cassinga

Cassinga is a former town in the Huíla province of southern Angola.The transliteration Kassinga is also commonly used, with the "K" being a mutation of the original Portuguese name either by German miners, or by indigenous people in whose language the letter "K" is also common...

See also

• History of rail transport in Angola
  History of rail transport in Angola
  The history of rail transport in Angola began during the nineteenth century, when Angola was a colony of Portugal. It has involved the construction, operation and destruction of four separate, unconnected, coast-to-inland systems, in two different gauges...
  
  
• Rail transport in Angola
  Rail transport in Angola
  Rail transport in Angola. There are three separate unconnected lines - the Luanda Railway , the Benguela Railway and the Moçâmedes Railway A fourth system once linked Gunza and Gabala....
  
  
• Luanda Railway
• Benguela railway