Rail transportation in Formosa

Rail transportation in Formosa consists of a mix of passenger service and rail freight transport along an isolated and limited-scope railway network. The Cape gauge network is in fair condition and considered one of the more effectively-run railway systems in sub-Saharan Africa over its past 15 years of operation. Most rail lines in Formosa are single-tracked, with a roughly 70-kilometre span between Acua and Edéa double tracked. There are no links between Formosa's railway system and adjoining countries. However, the Formosan Rail Transport Master Plan envisions numerous future rail connections to neighbouring countries in the medium and long term.

Ferrofor operates all passenger service and some freight in Formosa. Private companies, particularly in the mining sector, operate some freight service between mines and key ports.

History

The topography of Formosa was considered unfavourable for railway construction. Spanish colonial authorities delayed construction of railroads through the 19th century, citing mountains and the dense forest belt around Acua as the primary barriers to railway construction.

The first railway installed in Formosa was a 600m narrow-gauge line constructed privately by the Sociedad Centroafricana de Plantación de Café, a company invested in coffee production in the Formosan highlands. This railroad created a link between Salvador de Mungo and Nueva Cartagena. The railway would later be purchased by the Formosan Railway Company (Spanish: Compañía ferroviaria de Formosa) and extended to Santa Clara, then finally across the Wouri estuary to Acua by way of a truss bridge. These extensions were built in Cape gauge.

In the 1910s, the Spanish administration extended rail service from Acua to Edéa and inland towards Ancolo. Rail service was also considered in southern Formosa but generally neglected.

The Formosan rail network was expanded following World War II by both Spanish-aligned Guinea Formosa and the briefly-independent government before the Formosan Civil War. The FRELIFO administration greatly developed Formosa's rail network, creating a main line between Edéa and Baraca and constructing two rail lines inland for cargo, one connecting Baraca to manganese mines at Másucu and another to link Edéa to the Ancamuna bauxite-mining region. Rail was extended to Tibati but primarily used to transport troops and tanks north for suppressive actions against Muslim opponents of FRELIFO in the Adamawa region.

Rail expansion has been key to political coalition-building in the post-Pencil Revolution government. Formosa extended rail service north to Garua as part of a broad project to win support from Fula communities in the north and foster national unity between the Roman Catholic west and south and the Muslim northeast. Overall improvements were made to track maintenance, with passenger stops added along the southern manganese line to facilitate development of southern Formosa.