The Train That Stopped: Sudan's Railway and the Case for Revival

Sudan once had the longest railway network in Africa — today, almost none of it runs In 1955, the year before Sudanese independence, the Sudan Railways network stretched across 4,756 kilometres of track. It connected Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, south to Sennar and Kosti on the White Nile, west through Kordofan to Nyala in Darfur, north along the Nile to Wadi Halfa on the Egyptian border. It was, at independence, one of the most extensive rail networks in Africa — the physical infrastructure of a country that moved its cotton, its sorghum, and its people on steel rails through the desert. ...

June 20, 2026 · 8 min · Kandaka

The Nile as a Highway: River Transport for Sudan's Future

Khartoum Kosti Khartoum to Kosti: 320 km of navigable Nile — river freight costs 3× less than road haulage The Nile enters Sudan near Wadi Halfa in the north and flows south through Dongola, Khartoum, Kosti, and Renk before crossing into South Sudan — a journey of nearly 1,850 kilometres. For most of this distance, the river is wide, deep, and navigable. It passes through the heart of the country’s agricultural zones, connects its largest cities, and reaches populations that road infrastructure has never reliably served. ...

June 1, 2026 · 11 min · Kandaka