(Business in Cameroon) - The number of train passengers in Cameroon dropped by 60.8% between 2016 and 2020, from 1,582,434 to 572,633.

According to information from the Ministry of transport, this poor performance is mainly due to the restriction measures deployed by the government to face the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also the result of the suspension of the direct line between the two main cities of Yaoundé and Douala following a train accident that killed at least 76 people and injured 600 on October 21, 2016. That year, the direct line registered a total of 197,713 passengers, against zero up until 2020.

However, the Ministry points out that the freight traffic only declined slightly during the period under review, falling from 1,600,000 tons in 2016 to 1,551,000 tons in 2020 (-3%).

Sylvain Andzongo