The InterCity train returns to Cameroonian tracks

The InterCity train, which started in May 2014 and linked the cities of Douala and Yaounde, had abruptly suspended its operations in October 2016, following the Eseka accident, leaving 79 dead and 600 injured. The re-launch of its activities, on Thursday, April 29, 2021, could only be attended by the Cameroonian Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Massena NGalle Bibéhé, who was accompanied by his deputy minister, members of Parliament, company directors, authorities of decentralised territorial communities, administrative and traditional authorities and media men and women.

This test trip, which included stops in the towns of Edea, Eseka, Makak, Ngoumou, allowed for the evaluation of the quality of the eleven passenger cars that have been renovated at a cost of 1.1 billion FCFA in the workshops of Camrail, the Cameroonian rail carrier.

« In Europe, we talk about TGV (high speed train) and here, it is the InterCity train, although the speeds are not comparable. I am delighted that the InterCity train is back on our railway. As in the past, it will enable us to go faster to Yaoundé or Douala. I hope that this long period of cessation of activities will have served as a lesson to the management team of Camrail, and that all measures have been taken so as not to bring more mourning to Cameroonian families. I can only wish them a safe return, but above all, a lot of prudence, » said Joseph Douo.

As a reminder, train No. 152, which was put into circulation on 21 October 2016, had serious anomalies and failures: « overloading of the convoy, inappropriate extension of the train set, use of passenger cars, several of which had defective braking components, use of a power car whose braking was out of order, lack of serious verification of the continuity of the braking of the train set before its departure from Yaoundé, refusal to take into consideration, by Camrail’s hierarchy, of the reservations expressed by the train driver, due to the aforementioned anomalies », the same source continued.

The report of the commission of enquiry set up by the presidency of the Republic, had concluded that « the main cause of the overturning of the said train was an excessive speed of 96km/h in a portion of track where the speed was strongly limited to 40km/h ».
Train city