Luena – The experimental train on the Kuito (central Bie province)/Luena (eastern Moxico) route reached destination on Tuesday, after 30 years out operation of the Benguela Railway (CFB) due to the armed conflict that ravaged the country.

 
Aboard of the train in the experimental trip were the minister of Transport, Augusto da Silva Tomás, accompanied by members of the Government and the CEO of CFB.

 
In a route of more than 300 kilometres, the locomotive took 14 hours travelling from the capital city of central Bie province (Kuito) to the capital of eastern Moxico province (Luena).

 
The governor of Moxico, João Ernesto dos Santos “Liberdade”, who also accompanied the minister in the trip from Chicala station, the last-but-one, to welcome the delegation and witness the arrival of the locomotive. 

 
The CFB, with 1,344 kilometres of length, is the only railway linking central Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. Its construction started in March 1903 and finished on 22 February 1929.

 
It links the locality of Luau, in eastern Moxico province to the railway systems of the neighbouring republics of Congo and Zambia. 

 
Through Zambia, the train can reach the port cities of Beira in Mozambique and Dar Es-Salaam (Tanzania) on the Indian Ocean. It is also indirectly connected with the South African railway system, making of it a transcontinental network.