The train from Cotonou to Parakou takes fourteen hours when it runs. It departs from the old railway station near the port, a colonial building with a faded yellow facade and a clock that stopped decades ago. It passes through Bohicon, Dassa-Zoumè, and a succession of small towns whose names appear on no tourist map. The carriages are worn, the tracks are uneven, and the speed rarely exceeds forty kilometres an hour.

This is not a modern railway. It is a colonial relic, a 438-kilometre metre-gauge line built by the French between 1900 and 1936 for a single purpose: extraction.

The colonial project

The French colonial administration of Dahomey faced a problem in the 1890s. The colony's most valuable products — palm oil, palm kernels, cotton, and groundnuts — were produced in the interior, but the only port was at Cotonou. Moving goods by headload or cart was slow and expensive. A railway was the obvious solution.

Construction began in 1900, starting from Cotonou and pushing north. The line reached Ouidah in 1905. By 1912, it had reached Bohicon. The final section to Parakou was completed in 1936, more than three decades after the first rail was laid.

The engineering was brutal. The line crosses rivers, marshes, and the low hills of the Collines Department. Tracks were laid by forced labour under the indigénat system, a colonial legal code that subjected Africans to compulsory unpaid work. Thousands of Dahomean men were conscripted to build the railway. Many never returned to their villages.

Economic impact

The railway transformed the economy of Dahomey. Palm oil exports from the Zou and Mono regions multiplied. Cotton from the Borgou region reached the coast for the first time in commercial quantities. The railway also carried European manufactured goods inland, creating a colonial trade circuit that enriched French companies while reshaping local economies.

The railway made Cotonou. Before the railway, Cotonou was a small fishing village. After the railway, it became the economic capital of Dahomey, a status it has never relinquished.

The passenger service

In the early decades, the railway also carried passengers. Colonial administrators, missionaries, traders, and a small number of African travellers rode the trains between Cotonou and the interior. For the first time, travel time between the coast and central Dahomey shrank from weeks to hours.

But passenger services never recovered from the decline of the post-independence era. By the 1980s, the rolling stock was ageing, the tracks were deteriorating, and the railway was losing money. Today, passenger services are suspended or operate on a reduced schedule. The line is primarily used for freight: cotton, cement, petroleum products, and containers from the port of Cotonou.

The railway today

The entire Beninese rail network consists of 578 kilometres of single-track, metre-gauge line, all of it the original colonial alignment. There have been no major extensions since independence.

The railway's main function today is freight. The port of Cotonou is a railhead, meaning that goods arriving by ship can be transferred directly to trains for inland distribution. The dry port project near Parakou aims to extend this logic, turning Parakou into a logistics hub for landlocked Niger.

But the railway faces competition from road transport. Benin's highways, particularly the RNIE 2, are in good condition, and trucks can move goods faster and more flexibly than trains. The railway's market share has declined steadily.

The future

There have been proposals to rehabilitate the line, upgrade the tracks, and restore passenger services. In 2023, the Beninese government signed an agreement with a Chinese company to study the modernisation of the railway. But progress has been slow, and the funding is not yet secured.

For now, the Cotonou-Parakou railway survives. It is a fading thread connecting the coastal capital to the interior, a monument to colonial ambition and extraction, and a reminder of how infrastructure shapes history. It is also, for those who manage to ride it, one of the most memorable journeys in West Africa.

FAQ

When was the Cotonou-Parakou railway built? Construction began in 1900 and was completed in stages, reaching Ouidah by 1905, Bohicon by 1912, and Parakou by 1936.

Who built the railway? The French colonial administration, using forced labour under the indigénat system.

What is the length of the Cotonou-Parakou railway? Approximately 438 kilometres. The entire Beninese rail network is 578 kilometres.

Does the passenger train still run? Passenger services operate on a reduced schedule. The journey from Cotonou to Parakou takes approximately 14 hours.

What is carried on the railway today? Primarily freight: cotton, cement, petroleum products, and containers from the port of Cotonou.

Will the railway be modernised? The government has studied modernisation plans, but funding and implementation remain uncertain.

Plan your visit

For travellers, the Cotonou-Parakou railway is more than infrastructure — it is an experience. Those who make the journey will see a cross-section of Beninese life that no highway can offer. For understanding the country's history, the railway is essential reading.