Railways in

Sudan

A Sudan Railways Corporation passenger train at Khartoum North station.
The train is a Chinese built diesel multiple unit dating from 2018.

The first railway in Sudan opened in the 1870s paralleling the River Nile for about 54km south from Wadi Halfa. Intended as a trade route it was taken over for war purposes and twice extended, but abandoned in 1905. It was built to 3ft 6in (1067mm) gauge, which may have reflected the ambitious but never achieved dream of Cecil Rhodes for a line running the length of Africa from the Cape of Good Hope to Cairo, of which the Sudanese line would have formed part.

The next railway in Sudan was a military line opened in the 1890s between Wadi Halfa and Abu Hamad. It shared the 3ft 6in (1067mm) gauge of the earlier line so that equipment could be used in common. It was later extended to Atbarah and, after General Kitchener's defeat of the Mahdiyah, to Khartoum, which it reached at the end of 1899. The line was then turned over to commercial use and formed the basis of the present day network.

Further extensions to the 3ft 6in (1067mm) gauge network continued through the first half of the twentieth century, culminating in a network of around 4700km. Meanwhile, a group of 2ft (610mm) gauge lines opened in the 1920s for the construction of canals as part of the Gezira scheme had expanded into a 700km network serving agricultural communities at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile near Khartoum.

The railways went into an economic decline from the late 1960s / early 1970s and suffered further depradations during civil wars from the 1980s onward. The last of the 2ft (610mm) gauge lines had closed by 2009.

There were no international connections until 2011, when the creation of the Republic of South Sudan resulted in a new boundary on the Khartoum to Wau line, between Babanusa and Aweil. However, this line closed in 2013 following another outbreak of civil war.

In 2020, a feasibility study was initiated for a new 1522km standard (1435mm) gauge railway from Port Sudan via Khartoum to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

Also in 2020, a feasibility study was initiated into a standard gauge line connecting Wadi Halfa with the Egyptian Railways network, via Abu Simbel. Initially, there would be a break of gauge at Wadi Halfa, but conversion to standard gauge of the line from Wadi Halfa to Khartoum is envisaged for the future. In 2021, both governments recommitted to the project, although no date has been given for the start of construction.

During the early part of the 21st century, a considerable amount of rehabilitation and modernization work has been undertaken on the network, but this has frequently been interrupted or undone by outbreaks of civil war. As of late 2025, the situation appeared to be as follows: Sudan Railways Corporation claims an extensive network of lines throughout the country. However, freight traffic appears to be confined to the area east of the Nile controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces. Passenger services operate from Khartoum to Port Sudan and Jebel Aulia, and from Abu Hamad (on the Khartoum to Port Sudan line) to Wadi Halfa and Karima. Trains run typically just a few times each week, but this may increase with the purchase of new diesel multiple units.

In 2026, the Sudanese Transport Ministry announced the reopening of the line southeast from Khartoum to Wad Madani. Work is in hand to continue the reopening as far as Sennar.

• Sudan Railways Corporation the national network