[1][2] It consists of a single, 704-kilometre (437 mi) railway line linking the iron mining center of Zouérat with the port of Nouadhibou, via Fderik and Choum.

Since the closure of the Choum Tunnel, a 5 km (3.1 mi) section of the railway cuts through the Polisario Front-controlled part of the Western Sahara (21°21′18″N 13°00′46″W / 21.354867°N 13.012644°W / 21.354867; -13.012644).

[2] This played a major role in prompting the army to overthrow Mauritanian President Moktar Ould Daddah in 1978, followed by a withdrawal from Western Sahara the following year.

[citation needed] Trains on the railway are up to 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in length,[3] making them among the longest and heaviest in the world.

[citation needed] In January 2019, the railway resumed tourism after a ten-year hiatus; part of the track ran through a forbidden tourist area.