The Iron Ore Express

The Nouadhibou train station in Mauritania consists of a group of small white buildings in the middle of a sandy plain. Looking around, you see nothing but beige ground and blue sky. If you happen to be traveling to the small mining town of Zouérat, the Iron Ore Express is an unforgettable way to go. This train is nearly 3 kilometers long and makes the 704-kilometer journey between Zouérat and the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou each day.

A Very Long Train

Even though the Iron Ore Express is one of the world’s longest trains, you might not see it from the track at first because of the massive cloud of sand it whips up. Once the train storms into the station, you would hear the loud rumbling of its four locomotives pulling more than 220 freight cars.

All Aboard

For a relatively small fare, you can buy a ticket for a passenger car, where you might find a perch on a wooden carriage seat. Once inside the crowded compartment, you will share your ride with many local men. They make the journey as comfortable as possible, spreading blankets over the floor and sharing biscuits and jam.

Or, if you happened to spend your last ouguiya on a large bowl of thieboudienne (a dish of fish and rice), you might be tempted by another way travelers have made the journey: resting atop the rocky cargo in an open freight car. The trip is free but extremely rough and dusty, with no shelter from the desert weather. Today, railway officials sometimes restrict passengers from riding this way.

The Journey

Traveling at a top speed of about 50 kilometers per hour, the Iron Ore Express passes small desert communities as it crosses northern Mauritania. One important stop is Choum, where departing riders hire taxis to continue their journeys beyond the sandy dunes. Schedules are unpredictable, and the entire trip between Nouadhibou and Zouérat typically takes about 16 to 20 hours. Eventually, the hours of rumbling rails and blowing sand come to an end.

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