Cape to Cairo Railway
Proposed but never completed railway connecting British colonies in eastern Africa / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Cape to Cairo Railway was an unfinished project to create a railway line crossing from southern to northern Africa. It would have been the largest, and most important, railway of the continent. It was planned as a link between Cape Town in South Africa and Port Said in Egypt.[1][2]
Cairo–Cape railway | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Status | Only a few stretches in operation 5,625 kilometres (3,495 mi) |
Termini |
|
Service | |
Type | High-speed rail Heavy rail |
Technical | |
Line length | 10,489 km (6,518 mi) |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
Electrification | 25 kV 50/60 Hz AC |
The project was never completed. Completed parts have been inoperative for many years, as a result of wars and lack of maintenance by the former colonies.
The plan was initiated at the end of the 19th century, during the time of Western European colonial rule. It was largely based on the vision of Cecil Rhodes, an attempt to connect African colonies of the British Empire through a continuous railway line from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt.[3]