Until recently, there were no railways in Niger but for many years existed plans to build a railway connecting Niger to a seaport. In 1930s there was a project to extend Cotonou – Parakou railway line in present-day Benin to Niamey and connect with the Abidjan – Ouagadougou line. The first and only railway in Niger was built between 2014 and 2016 between Niamey and Dosso (140 km) by French company Bolloré. The railway is unused and the tracks ending in the middle of nowhere some 6 km south of Dosso.
On April 7, 2014, the railway station in Niamey was officially opened. The presidents of Niger, Benin and Togo were present at the ceremony. Today the station is abandoned and neglected.
The railway line Niamey – Dosso was formally opened on 29 January 2016 but has never been in service.
Railways in Niger – proposed lines
There are proposed railway lines from Niger to adjacent countries. The railway line Niamey – Dosso, according to the plans, will be connected to the Abidjan – Ouagadougou line between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso and Cotonou – Parakou line in Benin. The Cotonou – Niamey – Ouagadougou – Abidjan railway network is planned to be 2,728 km long.
Nigeria is also planning to build a 248-kilometer railway line from Kano to Maradi, where an oil refinery will be built. The line is to be used to transport goods from Niger to Nigerian ports and compete with the lines from Niger to ports in Togo and Benin, which would be built for the same purpose. Niger is the poorest country in the world and the line will be sponsored by Nigeria. This project will cost about 2 billion USD.
A railway line connecting the eastern and western coasts of Africa, from Port Sudan to Dakar, is also to run through Niger.
In my opinion, these plans will not be implemented in the next twenty years and railways in Niger will be still unused or dismantled.
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