DRC – The METROKIN project in Kinshasa

This project aims to provide the city of Kinshasa with a modern urban train for mass transport, reduce speculation on transport prices, quickly facilitate the movement of several people in record time between the suburbs, the city center and other directions, make intercommunity transport fluid and the rapprochement of contacts between urban populations, and create a safe railway structure that respects the ecological directives of climate change.

The issue of mobility of people and goods in the city of Kinshasa is becoming increasingly worrying for the government because the city of Kinshasa, which now has more than 15 million inhabitants, urgently needs innovative and, above all, sustainable solutions in the transport sector. The provincial government created the METROKIN Company to manage this project rationally in partnership between the City Hall and a consortium of private companies including Trans Connexion Congo (TCC), the National Transport and Ports Company (SCTP) and other financial partners. The urban train project aims to operate 300 km of railway track for the entire city of Kinshasa.

It should be noted that the works are planned for a duration of 24 months in four phases, the first of which will go from the Central Station to the N'djili International Airport for 25 km, the second phase which concerns the plain along the main arteries of Kinshasa (75 km), the third, which is a peripheral line around Kinshasa (90 km), and the last, which will go from the N'djili International Airport to the Commune of Maluku (80 km).

The first phase is valued at $250 million and covers the double standard gauge track, signaling, the construction of eight stations, the rehabilitation of the N'djili and Tshenke bridges, the construction of two high-rise bridges for heavy goods vehicles, the construction of an interchange at Pakadjuma Square, the construction of a maintenance depot at Tshenke station, staff training and the acquisition of eight four-car trains, traction mode, rechargeable batteries with a range for a distance of 80 km. This is an ambitious project that consists of implementing an urban rail network of 300 kilometers of rails in the city of Kinshasa. The total cost of the project is estimated at USD 2 billion and will be financed by the government and partners of the Métro-Kin company, the project leader.