Angola wants to revive Benguela Railway

THE BENGUELA Railway, a 1 600km system which connects the West African port of Lobito with Beira on the East African coast of Mozambique, may be revived. The Angolan government wants to bring it back into service after 27 years of civil war. Spoornet, which is already working with rail projects and services in 18 African countries, has not indicated at this stage whether it will become involved wholly in any proposed development. It is, however, already operating services in Zambia under its agreement with Zambia Railways which forms part of the cross-continent system. The line has fallen into disuse on the Angolan side of the continent and a team of experts is studying ways of restoring it.