Editing Transport in Sierra Leone (section)

== Railways ==
{{main|Rail transport in Sierra Leone}}
[[File:Railways in Sierra Leone.svg|350px|thumb|Railway network of Sierra Leone<br>{{RailGauge|1067mm}} gauge - purple <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;{{RailGauge|762mm}} gauge - pink - closed.]]
There are 84 kilometres (52&nbsp;mi) of [[railway]] in [[Sierra Leone]], of which all is of a narrow  {{RailGauge|1067mm|disp=1}} gauge.  Sierra Leone no longer has any common carrier railroads, as the {{RailGauge|762mm|disp=1}} gauge [[Sierra Leone Government Railway]] from [[Freetown]] through [[Bo, Sierra Leone|Bo]] to [[Kenema]] and [[Daru, Sierra Leone|Daru]] with a branch to [[Makeni]] closed in 1974.  The country does not share rail links with adjacent countries, [[Transport in Guinea|Guinea]] and [[Transport in Liberia|Liberia]].

The existing railroad is private and operated from 1933 until 1975 by the Sierra Leone Development Company's [[iron ore]] mines at [[Marampa]], 66&nbsp;km (41&nbsp;mi) east-northeast of the port at [[Pepel]].  It is now used on a limited basis.  Tecsbacos, the mining company, is reported in 2006 to have problems of theft and obstruction in operating the railway.<ref>[http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_20051158.shtml VP Berewa must save Tecsbaco in Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone News<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 

In May 2008, an extension of this line to [[Tonkolili]] with conversion to {{RailGauge|sg|lk=on}} (standard gauge) upgrade to carry {{convert|25000|t|LT ST|0|abbr=on|lk=on}} per year was under consideration.<ref>[http://railwaysafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2679&Itemid=35 Railways Africa – SIERRA LEONE RAIL PROJECT<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
<ref>[http://allafrica.com/stories/200805191261.html allAfrica.com: Sierra Leone: African Minerals to Boost Bunbuna Hydro (Page 1 of 1)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>  Further details of the project were announced in October 2010; [[Dawnus]] planned to construct 50&nbsp;km of new line, and refurbish 67&nbsp;km of existing line.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.railwaysafrica.com/blog/2010/11/sierra-leone-railway/|access-date=2010-11-09|title=SIERRA LEONE RAILWAY | publisher = Railways Africa}}</ref>

Talks started with Russia in 2006 to seek help to rebuild railways in the country, although choice of gauge is problematic, since the original {{RailGauge|762mm|disp=1}} gauge is obsolete.