When reading (and also ordering) the map on the future of railways in SEA (see also Mapping out the future of railways in Southeast Asia ) made by James Clark, I was keen to do something similar for Africa. With the rise of Chinese Investments in Africa, more projects which seemed to be once very visionary have come closer to reality, thus changing one by one the railway landscape that has almost stood still for half a century.
This revitalization reflects the growing interest in the respective domestic markets for trade but also the export of resources across the continent.
A first attempt to have a current and future outlook
For this first shot, I mostly relied on data easily available to me:
- Various wikipedia articles
- Jane’s Railways
- Various UN sites
- AfDB Study on Financing Railways in Africa (2015, quite extensive study)
In some regions, in particular in South Africa and North Africa, I simplified the map by trying to focus on a few major lines, since there is already a quite dense grid/network available. For instance, the recent proposals by the Minister of Transportation on the development on the Moloto corridor have not been included. The geographic proportions have also been simplified to make it not too complex and still readable.
You can download the map under this link:
I will regularly update the map, but am very thankful for any corrections and ideas how to improve it to map@mobilistics.ch.
mobilistics 