page_title: Mauritania Railway
section_title: Traffic
hierarchical_section_title: Mauritania Railway / Traffic
caption_attribution_description: English: SNIM iron ore train at Nouadhibou station, Mauritania Polski: Pociąg SNIM przewożący rudę żelaza, na stacji w Nawazibu, Mauretania Español: SNIM tren de minerales, en la estación de Nouadhibou, Mauretania
context_page_description: The Mauritania Railway is the national railway of Mauritania. Construction of the line began in 1960, with it opening in 1963. It consists of a single, 704-kilometre railway line linking the iron mining centre of Zouerate with the port of Nouadhibou, via Fderik and Choum. The state agency Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière controls the railway line.
  Since the closure of the Choum Tunnel, a 5 km section of the railway cuts through the Polisario Front-controlled part of the Western Sahara.
context_section_description: Trains on the railway are up to 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in length, making them among the longest and heaviest in the world. They consist of 3 or 4 diesel-electric EMD locomotives, 200 to 210 cars each carrying up to 84 tons of iron ore, and 2-3 service cars.  The total traffic averages 16.6 million tons  per year.
  Passengers are also occasionally transported by train; these services are managed by an SNIM subsidiary, the société d'Assainissement, de Travaux, de Transport et de Maintenance (abb. ATTM). Passenger cars are sometimes attached to freight trains, but more often passengers simply ride atop the ore hopper cars freely. Passengers include locals, merchants, and rarely some tourists. Conditions for these passengers are incredibly harsh with daytime temperatures exceeding 40°C and death from falls being common. 
  In January 2019, the railway resumed tourism after a ten year hiatus; part of the track ran through a forbidden tourist area. One of the stops on the tourist route is an iron mine. The tourist route is typically operated by a locomotive carrying two passenger carriages.
caption: Mauritania Railway train at the station in Nouadhibou
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