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Port Sudan Train

Osman Mirghani

Joy is an obligation for any person and because of that, the citizens of Port Sudan expressed their joy when they receive the passengers’ train for the first time after 16 years of absence from the rails heading to Port Sudan.

We should look to the from a larger angle to make the image broader or “Zoom out” as cameramen say because the event is more than just a joyful scene.

The railway’s activities in Sudan started in the mid of eighteenth century during the Turkish era, but the actual boom came with the steps of the British invaders led by Lord Kitchener who brought 1000 thousand British engineers from the British Engineering Corp. Those engineers used to lay one kilometer or rail a day.

The railway of Kitchener reached the eastern bank of the Atbara River and this necessitated the construction of a bridge to allow for the railways to cross towards Khartoum. Kitchener ordered part of the engineers to continue the construction of the railway from the western bank while the other part starts constructing the bridge. The miracle was that when the bridge was completed the railway on the other side reached Khartoum. The survey of that railway was conducted by only 4 British engineers.

The railways expanded to reach most parts of the country till they reached Wau city in South Sudan.

The railways were for long decades the favorite means of transportation of passengers and goods. It was the real lifeline for Sudan through its accuracy and discipline.

But unfortunately, the ousted regime had intentionally and systematically worked in damaging the railways.

Just imagine, after 115 years from the arrival of the Sudan railways to Port Sudan harbor (1906), Port Sudan citizens are celebrating the arrival of the train to their railway station after 16 years of absence.

In 2017 Sudan airways celebrated the landing of Sudan Air in El-Obeid! Sudan Airways which landed in Heathrow airport in 1952 and toured all the international airports celebrated after 60 years its landing the nearest airport El-Obeid!

This backwardness is not limited to the transport means, but it is in all the public facilities where the past image is brighter than the present! Why??

In simple calculations, Sudan railways are supposed to reach all parts of the country linking the production areas with the harbor and passing by all parts of the countries considering it the cheapest and safest means of transport.

The development of Sudan Airways will not only support the Sudan economy but the national security.

We are in need to conduct studies on the causes of this failure to transform it into remarkable success.

Port Sudan citizens have the right to joy but our experts should work out plans to make that joy sustainable.

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