Abidjan rail link to Burkina Faso resumed after civil war
Train services between land-locked Burkina Faso, in West Africa, and the port of Abidjan, in Ivory Coast, have resumed after a year-long close caused by the civil war in Ivory Coast.
OT Africa Line said in a bulletin that the border between the two countries was officially reopened to road traffic in September, and the first freight train completed the journey from Abidjan to Bobo Dioulasso, in Burkina Faso, this month.
“Burkina Faso has traditionally relied on the 1,150-kilometer-long rail link from Abidjan to Ouagadougou (in Burkina Faso) to carry most of its external trade,” OT Africa Lines said.
The closure of the railway forced Burkina Faso and the land-locked, neighboring countries of Mali and Niger to use road transport to West African ports other than Abidjan, according to the shipping line.