Except for those commuting between the northern and southern parts of the country where the road network is poor, very few people would take the train. This is because the services are inexistent in most localities. The 1,009 kilometres of rail network cover just five of the ten provinces - Adamawa, Centre, East, Littoral and the South West. Even in areas with rail network, going by train is generally the last option because of the underdevelopment of the sector. The coaches are old, trains slow and irregular.

The railway, however, remains the principal means of transporting goods. It contributes to the transportation of various export products such as banana, coffee, cacao, cotton, logs and aluminium. Import products like grain, fertilizer, construction materials and bauxite destined for Cameroon and neighbouring countries such as Chad and the Central African Republic are mainly taken inland by train. Freight transport therefore takes a dominant place in the rail business. Some ten years ago, for example, 1,461,200 metric tons of freight was transported for total revenue of 22.298 million FCFA. In the same period, some 1,487,000 passengers travelled by rail for a total revenue of 3.249 million FCFA.

In a bid to boost the performance of the sector, government decided to transfer the commercial operation of Cameroon Railways from REGIFERCAM to a private firm, CAMRAIL. The World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and bilateral donor organizations assisted the Government in this privatisation endeavour through the Cameroon Railway Concessions project. With privatisation, many Cameroonians had expected a new lease of life in rail transportation. However, very little has changed. Little development has been made on the existing infrastructure. The 1.009 km operational rail system of Cameroon is carried out by 61 locomotives, 1,354 freight cars and 76 passenger cars.

Passenger traffic

There exists five rail lines in Cameroon. The central line runs from Yaounde to Douala. The first rails on this line were built by the German colonial administration and the rest finished by French administration. There is very little passenger traffic on this route, an average of three trains daily (with only three to four coaches), and the "shuttle" only one coach with about three covered goods vans. The goods traffic is important with about five to ten heavy trains daily. The Northern line is the busiest. It runs from Yaounde to Ngaoundere.

As the road network is underdeveloped towards the northern part of the country, the passenger trains to Ngaoundere are much heavier than in the direction of Douala (over ten coaches). There are local trains on Yaounde-Belabo. A lot of goods are also transported using the train. Only Douala - Mbanga is in service in the Western Line - Douala-Mbanga-Nkongsamba, opened in 1911 by German colonial administrators. The Mbanga-Kumba line opened in 1969 to link the English-speaking regions of the country has become quite serviceable since the collapse of the Mungo river bridge, on the Douala-Limbe road. But the services are poor. Traffic has been suspended on the last line from Otele to Mbalmayo.

In effect, more efforts should be made to develop rail transportation in Cameroon. The ideal is for all the provincial headquarters to be linked by rail and for the introduction of urban rail transportation in the main towns. It is very possible for such dreams to be realised if there is the will. On old maps drawn before 1918, there is a non realised project showing a prolonged western line. The line that begins in Douala to Mbanga and Nkongsamba had to be prolonged in the northern direction to Bafoussam, Foumban, Banyo and Garoua.

Developing the rail network will provide Cameroonians with an alternative means of transportation which is globally considered as the safest. Elsewhere in the world, rail transportation is en vogue. Trains are the fastest, safest and most comfortable means of transportation. Cameroon therefore stands to benefit if it develops its rail network. Such was even the vision when the colonial masters started constructing the railway in the country.