Luanda–Malanje Express

Angola’s oldest railway, silenced for decades by civil war, reopened end-to-end in 2011 after a Chinese-led rebuild of all 424 km.

Angola’s first railway started inland from Luanda in 1889 and reached the Malanje plateau twenty years later, only to be shattered by three decades of civil war. A Chinese-led reconstruction relaid all 424 km, and since 2011 a daily long-distance train has linked the Atlantic capital with the highlands again. It leaves the 1880s Bungo terminus, crosses the baobab plains of the Cuanza lowlands and climbs to N’dalatando before running out the plateau to Malanje, gateway to the Kalandula Falls.

Along the way

• Bungo terminus in old Luanda
• Cuanza lowland baobabs near Catete
• Climb to N’dalatando’s green hills
• Cacuso plateau farmland
• Malanje, gateway to Kalandula Falls

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 2148314 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within 54 m of them
• Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 15 m from it
• Wikipedia has an article for this line
• See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it

Questions and answers

How long is the Luanda–Malanje Express?

The Luanda–Malanje Express runs 424 km from Luanda to Malanje.

How long does the Luanda–Malanje Express take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 11 h for the 424 km. That is an average of 39 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 90 km/h.

Who runs the Luanda–Malanje Express?

Caminho de Ferro de Luanda (CFL), with CFL long-distance express.

How old is the Luanda–Malanje Express?

The line has been in service since 1909. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How often does the Luanda–Malanje Express run?

1× daily each way.

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