Mauritania Railway Iron-Ore Train (Train de Minéral de Fer)

SNIM (Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière) — passenger carriages managed by SOMASERT
Mauritania
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The Journey

Navigate from Zouérat Station to Nouadhibou Station across a span of 704km. This is an overnight service.

Scenery Highlights
  • The 2.5–3 km long loaded ore train stretching to the horizon — visually one of the most dramatic rail sights on Earth
  • Passing the Ben Amera monolith (Guelb er Richat region) — at 633 m the world's second-largest exposed rock formation after Uluru, rising sheer from the desert floor
  • Departure from Zouérat through the open-pit iron-ore mines with their rust-red terraces and giant Caterpillar dump trucks
  • Crossing the Adrar Plateau wind-scoured sandstone uplands
  • The Choum Junction desert halt — a lone concrete platform and shelter in the middle of nowhere
  • Passing the dark volcanic ridges and basalt outcrops south of Zouérat — a different colour palette to the orange sand seas
  • The long Atlantic approach to Nouadhibou — first sight of the ocean as the train grinds through the Western Sahara Free Zone
  • Nouadhibou port station itself — the train rolling directly into the ore-loading jetty with cargo ships in the foreground
  • Sunrise over the Sahara from the open Dweira window on overnight Nouadhibou → Zouérat journeys
  • The trackside Saharan trader camps at El Ayoun and Inal — informal tea stalls servicing the Mauritanian cross-desert trade
Quick Facts
  • Duration

    14 hours

  • Distance

    704 km

  • Est. Price

    Ultra-affordable (EUR 15–28 one-way; second class EUR 15, first class EUR 25)

Official Booking Provider
Classes & Accommodations

Meals: None — bring all food and water for the 14-hour journey

Ensuite: No

Meals: None — bring all food and water for the 14-hour journey

Ensuite: No

Meals: None

Ensuite: No

Engine / Locomotive

SNIM diesel-electric locomotives — typically 2–4 units per train (modern fleet includes EMD SD70ACS, EMD JT26CW-SS, and older Alsthom CC-series; current motive power being progressively replaced under EIB $512M modernisation)

Locomotive Weight

100+ tonnes per locomotive (typical EMD SD70ACS ~192 t; older Alsthom units ~110 t)

Track Gauge

1,435 mm (standard gauge)

Braking Technology

Air brakes on locomotives and wagons (Westinghouse-style); dynamic brake on EMD SD70ACS units; loaded ore trains require distributed braking across all 200+ wagons to prevent run-away on desert grades

Route Engineering Challenges

  • Sand encroachment on tracks requiring constant ballast cleaning and rail-grinding maintenance — the line's biggest ongoing operational cost

  • Extreme temperature variations (8°C winter nights to 52°C summer days on ballast)

  • Remote 704 km route through uninhabited Sahara desert with no road access for emergency response

  • Water scarcity for crew and passengers — water tanker trains supplement mine supply

  • Crossing the Polisario-controlled Free Zone of Western Sahara — political sensitivity and military escort required

  • Iron-ore dust abrasion on locomotive air intakes, traction motors, brake systems and signalling equipment

  • Single-track configuration with passing loops at Fderîck, Choum, El Ayoun and Inal — limits daily train frequency to ~4 each direction

  • Heat-related rail expansion ('sun kinks') on exposed sections during summer months

Train Length

Typically 2.5–3 km (200–220 loaded wagons); among the longest trains in the world

Cargo Capacity

Up to 22,000 tonnes of iron ore per train (high-grade hematite from Kedia d'Idjil / Fderîck mines)

Passenger Car

Single 'Dweira' carriage attached at rear of selected freight trains; managed by SOMASERT; no fixed timetable

Iron-Ore Grade

~65% Fe hematite concentrate — among the highest-grade iron ores shipped globally

Port of Discharge

Nouadhibou deep-water terminal (point-à-soleil jetty) — ore loaded directly into bulk carriers

Modernisation Programme

$512 million European Investment Bank funding for rail modernisation, new locomotives, signalling, security upgrades, and infrastructure improvements (2023–2028, ongoing)

Year Opened

1963 (construction began 1960; opened by President Moktar Ould Daddah)

Construction Era

Built as flagship of post-independence Mauritanian industrial policy; engineered by French and Canadian consultants; mining infrastructure funded by European and World Bank lending

Total Network Length

704 km single-track mainline (Zouérat–Nouadhibou) plus ~80 km of mine-yard and port-side industrial sidings

Daily Train Frequency

Approximately 4 freight trains each direction daily; 1–2 of those carry the Dweira passenger coach

Operator

SNIM (Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière) — Mauritanian state-owned mining and railway company, founded 1974

Passenger Subcontractor

SOMASERT (Société Mauritanienne de Services et de Transports) — manages the Dweira coach under contract to SNIM

Currency onboard

None — fully self-catering; ticket paid in MRU or EUR cash at station ticket office

Languages onboard

Hassaniya Arabic, French, Pulaar, Wolof; some Mauritanian staff speak basic English

Best Photography Segment

Zouérat → Fderîck loaded-departure stretch (rust-red iron-ore terraces, dark volcanic ridges, Adrar Plateau horizon); also the long Atlantic approach to Nouadhibou

Comparable Worldwide Routes

Only a handful of operating railways routinely run 2.5+ km heavy-haul iron-ore trains — Pilbara (BHP / Rio Tinto, Western Australia), Carajás (Vale, Brazil), and Mauritania's SNIM line

Quick Facts
  • Duration

    14 hours

  • Distance

    704 km

  • Est. Price

    Ultra-affordable (EUR 15–28 one-way; second class EUR 15, first class EUR 25)

Official Booking Provider