Niamey (French: Gare de Niamey), colloquially also known as Niamey Hippodrome, is the main railway station of the city of Niamey, the capital of Niger. Located near the Niamey Racecourse (Hippodrome de Niamey), in Niamey IV borough, is the first station opened in Niger[5][6] and is part of AfricaRail project.
Niamey | |
|---|---|
| Inter-city & Commuter rails[1] | |
 View of rail track and platform | |
| General information | |
| Location | Bluezone Niamey,[2] Boulevard du 15 Avril Hippodrome, Commune IV, Niamey Niger |
| Coordinates | 13°29′54.48″N 2°8′7.61″E / 13.4984667°N 2.1354472°E |
| Owned by | Government of Niger |
| Line(s) | Niamey-Dosso-Kandi-Parakou-Cotonou[3][4] |
| Platforms | 1 (not finalized) |
| Tracks | 1 (not finalized) |
| History | |
| Opened | April 7, 2014 |
History edit
The station was officially inaugurated on 7 April 2014, with a ceremony and the arrival of the first train.[5][7][8] The ceremony was attended by the Nigerien president Mahamadou Issoufou, along with the presidents of Benin, Thomas Boni Yayi, and Togo, Faure Gnassingbé; and Vincent Bolloré, chairman of the French group Bolloré.[6] The group set up the structures for the reception of invited guests, and a section of 500 m of track for the circulation of the inaugural train, consisting of a diesel locomotive and some passenger cars. In the same day, it was also inaugurated, by the station, the "Bluezone Niamey".[2]
January 29, 2016 the train line Niamey-Dosso of 143 km was inaugurated,[9] but no trains have used the track since March 2017.[10]
Services and projects edit
As of 2015 there are no regular services but only tests on a track of 34 km, and educational visits.[11][12] Once ended the station expansion and the line construction, with the junction at the existing station of Parakou, in Benin, Niamey station will be the northern terminus of an international line to Cotonou, the largest Beninese city.[4]
Another future project would provide the construction of a line from Ouagadougou, the Burkinabé capital, that will link Niamey to Abidjan, in Ivory Coast.[13][14]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Services still not operating
- ^ a b (in French) Inauguration Bluezone Niamey (Bolloré Africa Logistics website)
- ^ The international route Niamey-Parakou is under construction
- ^ a b "Benin-Niger railway project launched" (International Railway Journal)
- ^ a b (in French) "Inauguration of the first train station in Niamey" (Radio France Internationale)
- ^ a b "A long-standing railway ambition" (Niger2020.org)
- ^ "A 80 Year-long Wait: Niger Gets its First Train Station" (Global Voices Online)
- ^ "First railway in Niger" (RailwaysAfrica)
- ^ "SEM Issoufou Mahamadou a inauguré vendredi la voie ferrée Niamey-Dosso". Présidence de la République du Niger. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
- ^ Nigerdiaspora (2017-03-25). "Mise en circulation du train : Pourquoi n'a-t-il plus " re-sifflé" ?". Nigerdiaspora.net. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
- ^ "Blueline Niger: railway testing begins" (Niger2020.org)
- ^ "Nigerien children visit the train station of Niamey" (Niger2020.org)
- ^ (in French) "Le Niger sur les rails" (Le Journal International)
- ^ "Niger to Ivory Coast rail link lays tracks for African infrastructure expansion" (The Guardian)
External links edit
Media related to Niamey train station at Wikimedia Commons