Rail transport is provided in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo (SNCC), the Société commerciale des transports et des ports (SCTP) (previously Office National des Transports (ONATRA) until 2011), and the Office des Chemins de fer des Ueles (CFU).

The national system is mostly operated by the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo, SNCC. Not all rail lines link up, but they are generally connected by river transport. The rail systems are listed below.Railways in Southern Africa. This source does not distinguish between operational and non-functioning lines.UNJLC Map number: UNJLC DRC 001 (7 MB) . This source distinguishes between 'operational' and 'very degraded' lines, but detail on some sections is obscured by roads.Rail Network Description at UNJLC. Retrieved 2 June 2007.

Routes

Matadi-Kinshasa Railway (Operational as of March 2026)

From Matadi to Kinshasa via Songolo, Kimpese and Kasangulu. 366 km, gauge. A 2019 timetable states one passenger train per week. Operated by SCTP (ex ONATRA). Beyond Matadi the line continues to oil terminals at Ango Ango (7 km). At Mwala Kinsende there is a branch to Mbanza-Ngungu (15 km) where there are railway workshops. In Kinshasa a branch was constructed in 1968 to N'Djili Airport (13 km) but this has been out-of-use for many years. Beyond Kinshasa East the line extends to riverside wharves (2 km). The line was originally constructed as gauge; In 1928, Congo (Belgium) and Angola (Portugal) did a land exchange to facilitate the new route of the railway to Kinshasa.[Railways Africa 2014 issue 5, p29] This line is a bypass of the Livingstone Falls on the Congo River, known as a portage railway. Upstream from the Kinshasa river port, water transport reaches about two-thirds of the country. The line lost traffic to road transport when the Matadi-Kinshasa road was re-established in 2000, and it is now planned to revitalize it with Chinese help.Le Potentiel, 16 August 2006. An agreement was signed in July 2006 between ONATRA and a Chinese company (CMIC) which will renovate the track, trains, telecommunications, signal system and electric supply. The line reopened in September 2015 after around a decade without regular service. As of April 2016 there was one passenger trip per week along the line and more frequent service was planned.

Vicicongo line (Out of use in 2022)

Bumba (Congo river port) - Aketi - Buta - Likati - Isiro - Mungbere, with branch lines to Bondo and Titule. 1,031 km, gauge. The line was opened by the Société des Chemins de Fer Vicinaux du Congo between 1926 and 1937. Alternative sources state a line length of 1,235 km (741 mi) long.Durrant, A.E., A.A. Jorgensen, C.P. Lewis. Steam in Africa, London, 1981, Hamlyn.

Great lakes line first section (Believed operational in 2022)

Kisangani (Congo River port) to Ubundu (upper Congo River port). 125 km, gauge.www.bck-kdl.be/Ligne Stanleyville-Ponthierville This line is a bypass (portage railway) of the Stanley Falls on the Congo River. A train runs after arrival at Kisangani of a ship from Kinshasa or before departure of a ship to Kinshasa, which may happen about every 2 to 3 month, no fixed schedule. There is no connecting boat service between Ubundu and Kindu on the Lualaba River (the upper Congo).

Great lakes line second section (Believed operational in 2022)

Kindu (Lualaba River port) - Kibombo – Kongolo – Kabalo (Lualaba River port and junction with Katanga line) - Nyunzu – Niemba – Kalemie (the port on Lake Tanganyika). 714 km, gauge. This line was gauge like the first section until 1955, when the gauge was changed for the connection with the Katanga line in 1956. Just north of Kongolo, the Lualaba is unnavigable due to the rapids named Portes D'Enfer ('Gates of Hell'). The track between Kalemie and Niemba is described by UNJLC in 2006 as 'very degraded' and may not be operational. Boats to Moba and Kalundu-Uvira on Lake Tanganyika used to connect with trains at Kalemie. In 1917 a train ferry was introduced on the lake operating from Kalemie, but is long gone.

Katanga line (Believed operational in 2022)

Kabalo (Lualaba River port and junction with Great Lakes line) – Kamungu - Katumba – Kabongo (or a town 8 km south-east) – Kamina (junction with Kasia line) - Bukama (Lualaba River port) – Tenke (junction with Benguela Railway) - Likasi – Lubumbashi - Sakania - Zambia. 1,302 km, gauge. There are a number of short branch lines in the mining areas between Tenke and Kolwezi. The section from near Kabongo to Kamina was described by UNJLC in 2006 as 'very degraded'.

Kasai line (Believed operational in 2022)

Ilebo (Kasai River port) – Kananga – Mwene Ditu – Kaniama - Kamina (junction with Katanga line). 978 km, gauge. This connects the Katanga line to the river port at Ilebo from where boats can reach Kinshasa. Freight is transferred to river barges, but in 2006 UNJLC reports the river service operates sporadically. On 1 August 2007 a passenger train ran out of control on the line 170 km north-west of Kananga and 7 coaches overturned, killing about 100 people.

Katanga-Benguela line A branch of the Katanga Railway was built from Tenke junction just north-west of Likasi via Kolwezi to Dilolo at the Angolan border. 522 km, gauge. This connects with the Benguela Railway from Luau to the Atlantic port of Lobito. This allowed through passenger trains to run between Lubumbashi and Lobito, and freight trains to carry copper from the Zambian and Katangan Copperbelts to a seaport for the export of copper. It was this purpose which provided the investment for the Benguela Railway. It did not operate through Angola from the 1980s, due to the civil war there. The line between Kolwezi and Dilolo was described by UNJLC in 2006 as 'very degraded'. It reopened in 2018. In 2023, the Lobito Atlantic Railway took over this corridor.

The following lines have been completely removed and are not listed for future rehabilitation: Mayumbe line: Boma to Tshela, 1889–1984, gauge, 140 km long and opened in stages from 1901 to 1913. removed in 1984.Closed "owing to its lack of profitability" (Inter Rail No. 2/1997); Mobutu also closed the bank branches and industry in this region (Le Potentiel No. 3700/2006). Kivu Railway: Kalundu-Uvira-Kamaniola (- Bukavu), 1931–1958, gauge.Blanchart, Charles: Le Rail au Congo Belge 1920–1945. Bruxelles: Blanchart, 1999 94 km long. Forminière railway 1923–1955, gauge, 93 km long. Followed the river Kasai from Charlesville to Makumbi.

Electrification A programme of electrification at 25kV AC was undertaken between 1952 and the early 1970s (specific completion date not identified). This covered:

600 km of the Katanga line from Lubumbashi via Tenke to Kamina. 252 km of the Katanga-Benguela line from Tenke to Mutshatsha.

Track totals 4,772 km (2002), 5,138 km (1995); narrow gauge: 3,621 km gauge (858 km electrified); (2002) 3,987 km gauge (858 km electrified); (1996) 125 km gauge; (2002) ev. transformed to gauge in 1955www.bck-kdl.be 1,026 km gauge (2002); The above figures are open to interpretation. A detailed list of railway lines, stations, and track distances is available here 'https://www.branchline.uk/jfpdf/zairerlys.pdf'

Railway links to adjacent countries There are currently two functioning international links: Zambia - yes - same gauge - , connects with railways of Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. Angola - yes - same gauge - . The link to the ports of Benguela and Lobito was unusable from the 1970s, but has been rehabilitated. The Angolan transport minister Augusto da Silva Tomás promised the reconstruction up to the border station at Luau in Moxico province by the end of 2012. The focus was then on the line from Dilolo to Kolwezi. The line reopened in 2018. Proposed Link: In 2012, Angola started plans for a line from Luanda via the Matadi Bridge to the enclave of Cabinda province which necessarily crosses Congo territory, with a junction with Congo's Matadi-Kinshasa Railway.

There are boat links to rail lines in these neighbouring countries: Republic of Congo - no direct link, but ordinary ferries across the Congo River from Kinshasa to Brazzaville can take passengers and freight to the Congo-Ocean Railway (same gauge ) which runs from Brazzaville to the Atlantic port of Pointe Noire. Tanzania - no direct link but boats take freight between Kalemie and Kigoma, from where Tanzania's Central Line runs to the seaport of Dar es Salaam; there once was a train ferry from Kalemie built in 1917; break of gauge /. These neighbouring countries have rail systems, but there are no links from the Congo: South Sudan - no - same gauge Uganda - no - break of gauge /. These neighbouring countries have no rail systems: Central African Republic, Rwanda and Burundi.

Proposed rail projects In September 2007 it was reported that China would provide US$5 billion for new infrastructure projects including rehabilitation and construction of new sections to link Sakania and Lubumbashi to Matadi (3,200 km), to be completed in 3 years."China Invests In DRC Transport Infrastructure." OT Africa Line website, dated 17/9/07, source AFP. A line from Uganda to Kasese was proposed in 2005."African projects deserve support". Railway Gazette International September 2005 In 2012, a new or rehabilitated gauge line was proposed from Kisangani to the port of Lamu in Kenya. In 2019, the SNCC reached a $500 million agreement with Russian Railways for the company to help upgrade the DRC's railway system.Kavanagh, Michael (26 October 2019). Russian Railways, DR Congo to Discuss Possible $500m Rail Deal. Bloomberg.

Criticism The rail network in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has experienced numerous accidents due to poor maintenance. The death toll is frequently high, partly due to the practice of train surfing. A major accident in August 2007 led to the death of over 100 people at Benaleka, Kasai-Occidental. In April 2014, 48 people were killed and 160 injured when an SNCC train derailed near Katongola, Katanga Province. 33 were killed in a further incident in November 2017 near Lubudi, Lualaba Province. 32 were killed in an accident in Kasai Province in March 2019. In September 2019 at least 50 persons died as a result of a derailment in Tanganyika.

World Bank projects Commencing in 1960, the World Bank has supported transport infrastructure projects in the country. These include:

Railway Project (01)

[abstract] The Societe Nationale des Chemin de Fer Zairois (SNCZ) railway project consists of SNCZ's 1979-1982 investment program and includes essential track rehabilitation, equipment and operational improvements to increase SNCZ's effective capacity to meet traffic demands. The project finances: (a) renewing and upgrading 210 km of track and ballasting another 285 km; (b) 100 ore wagons, 9 shunting locomotives and 12 passenger coaches; (c) spare parts for locomotives and wagons; (d) telecommunications, workshops, data processing and service equipment; (e) extension of Ilebo port facilities; (f) social infrastructure; and (g) middle/senior technical and management staff training and consultant services.

Railway Project (02)