(Business in Cameroon) - Camrail will acquire 25 railway cars constructed by the Franco-Korean company CIM-SSRT. This was revealed by an internal source at the interministerial committee on railway infrastructures (Comité interministériel des infrastructures ferroviaires-Comifer) after the last session held in Yaoundé on May 8, 2018.

“The negotiations for the financing agreement are in progress and a mission delegated by the prime minister has just sojourned outside the country for that purpose”, an internal source at the Comifer revealed.

The source also revealed that Cameroon and Camrail are also negotiating the acquisition of five railway cars from the Swiss company Stadler.

These cars should help relaunch the high-speed train voyages between Yaoundé and Douala. It will also help reduce the transport time. Indeed, according to good sources, with the renovation of the railway between Douala and Yaoundé, the railway cars should cover the distances within two hours (40 minutes less than the Intercity which was suspended in 2016 after the Eseka tragedy).

Let’s remind that apart from these cars, Cameroon has ordered 4 railway locomotives for passenger transport and Camrail 5 for the transport of goods. These cars recently constructed by General Electric should be delivered once the invoice is paid but, for the time being, only 15%  of the amount stipulated in the agreement has been paid.

 “Despite the current circumstances, Camrail and Cameroon want to finalize the purchase in the most reasonable times”, our source told us.

Brice R. Mbodiam