International Railroad Discussion > D R Congo and the BBC

Because I work in D R Congo I am naturally following the civil war ongoing in the Kivu Provinces adjacent to the East Africa Rift Valley. Today Goma, a city of around half a million fell to the M23 rebels with few shots being fired. The UN, over-staffed and under-whelming, stood by and watched (I am surprised they didn't have a committee meeting to attend).

OK, enough cynicism. One of the BBC links is to an item "Waiting in Vain for a train in D R Congo"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15859686

If you scroll down to the map, there is a glaring error, showing the Congo river below Kinshasa as being navigable (it is not) and no railway line between Kinshasa and Matadi (which there is). They did get the paved road right. One out of three for the BBC! Is it any wonder that people don't trust the media these days?

Congo appears to be all the rage these days. A new series starting next Wednesday on Channel 5 (a British terrestrial TV Channel) at 21:00 GMT; Extreme Railways with Chris Tarrant. This is the blurb on the C5 website:

This week, Chris is in the Republic of the Congo to experience one of the greatest surviving African railways of the colonial era. Built by French colonists at a cost of tens of thousands of African lives, this railway connects the capital of Brazzaville, far inland on the Congo River, to the coast 310miles away. It has remained a vital lifeline for both people and freight in a country with few roads and thousands of square of miles of jungle. Since its opening in 1934, the Congolese have done everything in their power to keep the railway open, even during the civil wars of the 1990s when the railway was deliberately targeted by guerrillas. Chris sets off from the overcrowded station at the port of Pointe-Noire to travel through the jungle to Brazzaville. With a few stops along the way, Chris is prepared for a gruelling two-day journey. Six days and a whole series of setbacks later, he finally arrives at his destination.

Along the way, Chris experiences the best and worst of this jungle railway, including the beauty of the narrow gauge line snaking through the dense forest and the macabre carnage at a notorious accident black spot. He discovers ingenious engineering that is over 100 years old, but suffers a rude awakening in the heart of a tunnel in the middle of the night, before enduring a white-knuckle ride on a disused section of line where thousands of construction workers died.

This is the website link: http://www.channel5.com/shows/chris-tarrant-extreme-railways

Nick, that is, of course, the other Congo. I am not surprised that a two day journey took six days, having seen the line and the equipment.

Focalplane Wrote:
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> Nick, that is, of course, the other Congo.

Yes, I was looking for your post on the CF Congo Ocean to post the link but couldn't find it Not sure why, can't see for looking. I found it now, you mention the new equipment, it's Korean. Chris Tarrant rode in the new train which had just been running a couple of weeks, the Gazelle the CFCO call it. Not before time too judging by the old train, although to be fair the seats of the older cars looked pretty comfortable. The main problem they seem to suffer, apart from erratic management (presumably poliical appointees) is the weather and the impact equatorial rainfall has on the right of way. There were also some pretty awful tales from the construction of the railway and the numbers who died. In one incident recounted to Chris Tarrant naturally occuring Carbon Monoxide poisoned tunnellers. It is quite amazing that the line was built and survives. Finally right at the end Tarrant is shown the rapids which make navigation on the Congo River between Brazzaville/Kinshasa and it's mouth impracticable. They looked very fearsome.

Anyway next week he's off to Australia, which I imagine will be more predictable and somehow less 'extreme'.