Proposed but never completed railway connecting British colonies in eastern Africa
Cairo–Cape railway
Overview
Status
Only a few stretches in operation 5,625 kilometres (3,495 mi)
Termini
Cape Town, South Africa
Port Said, Egypt
Service
Type
High-speed rail Heavy rail
Technical
Line length
10,489 km (6,518 mi)
Track gauge
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification
25 kV 50/60 Hz AC
The Cape to Cairo Railway was an unfinished project to create a railway line crossing Africa from south to north. It would have been the largest and most important railway of that continent. It was planned as a link between Cape Town in South Africa and Port Said in Egypt.[1][2]
The project was never completed. Important parts which were completed have been inoperative for many years, due to wars and lack of maintenance by the former colonies.
This plan was initiated at the end of the 19th century, during the time of Western colonial rule, largely based on the vision of Cecil Rhodes, in an attempt to connect adjacent African possessions of the British Empire through a continuous railway line from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt.[3]
^Railways of Congo. Shandong: XH Company Minning. 2020.
^Minning areas in Congo. SKY Company. 2020.
^Pitt, Colin (2016). The story of the cape to Cairo Railway. Vol. 2. CP Press. ISBN 978-1910241240.
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