History of rail transport in Angola

It has involved the construction, operation and destruction of four separate, unconnected, coast-to-inland systems, in two different gauges.

This line, in central Angola, included an approximately 2 km (1.2 mi) long rack railway portion, with gradients of up to six percent.

By 1929, the line had been extended to Dilolo, now in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to enable the copper deposits in the Congolese province of Katanga to be transported to the Atlantic ports.

A fourth railway line to connect the Angolan inland with a port was built in 1925 to serve coffee plantations on Amboim plateau, in 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) narrow gauge, and linked Porto Amboim with Gabela.

The civil war lasted until 2002, and brought rail traffic in Angola almost to a standstill.

After the end of the civil war, the Angolan government turned to Chinese companies to rehabilitate the three main colonial-era railways.