A train carrying sulphur bound for the Democratic Republic of Congo derailed today in the Angolan province of Moxico, without casualties, halting traffic on the route, local media reported.
The train, operated by the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) consortium from Porto do Lobito, Benguela province, on the southern coast of Angola, derailed in the town of Cavimbi, 127 kilometers from the town of Luena, Moxico province, Angola’s news agency, Angop, reported.
A technical team from the Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium has been at the scene to inspect the damage caused by the derailment, which has led Benguela Railway to suspend ticket sales scheduled for today on the Luena/Kuito route.
According to a source quoted by Angop, the extent of the damage is not yet known, namely how many meters of the line are damaged, which affects the resumption of traffic on this route.
Concessionaire Lobito Corridor last month began operations to transport sulphur from the port of Lobito to the Democratic Republic of Congo to support mining activities in the Katanga region.
The LAR consortium, comprising Trafigura, Mota-Engil and Vecturis, was awarded in 2022 a concession to operate, manage and maintain the Lobito rail corridor, which runs through Angola to the African Copper Belt, and the mineral terminal at the port of Lobito for a period of 30 years.
The project to restore this logistics corridor is supported by the governments of Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and the Partnership for Global Investment in Infrastructure (PGII) of the US and European Union governments.
LAR has around 700 employees spread across the company’s management and rail and port operations, mainly from CFB – Caminhos de Ferro de Benguela and the Port of Lobito, expecting the number to increase “significantly due to the increase in dealer activity”.
An investment of approximately $450 million is planned in the coming years through funding from the U.S. Development Finance Cooperation (DFC), which is in the final stages of review, to improve the modernization and efficiency of the Lobito Corridor.