Journey on the Legendary Iron Ore Train: the World's Longest Desert Railway Adventure

Embark on a challenging yet rewarding 20-hour journey atop the world's longest iron ore train, battling the extremes of the Sahara while reveling in the unobstructed desert sky.

📍 Zouérat > Choum > Nouadhibou, Mauritania

The 20-hour journey atop the world’s longest iron ore train is as challenging as it is rewarding. While passengers battle iron debris, sandstorms, and other harsh conditions, they delight in the fact that nothing lies between them, the vast Sahara Desert, and the unobstructed sky.

Sunrise in the Sahara Desert after a night spent atop the Iron Ore Train

The construction of the iron ore train took place between 1961 and 1963, coinciding with Mauritania's independence from France. Notably, the most expensive section of the railway used to include a 2-kilometer tunnel through towering granite cliffs on the Mauritania-Western Sahara border. In 1962, a costly detour was built through Western Sahara, then under Spanish control, to avert a territorial dispute that could disrupt iron ore transportation. Presently, the track follows a more efficient route across a flat expanse of Western Sahara, where the desert stretches and the border remains undefined. Abandoned and forgotten, the tunnel has earned the local moniker of a "monument to European stupidity," symbolizing colonial powers' struggles to navigate the borders they themselves established.

Monument to European Stupidity: The now defunct French-built tunnel preserving colonial borders for the iron ore train tracks

Since 1963, this remarkable 3-kilometer-long train, comprising 200 wagons, has traversed the Sahara Desert, starting from an iron mine in Zouérat, Mauritania, briefly crossing an international border with Western Sahara, and ultimately reaching Nouadibou, the country's second-largest city and a significant port. Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (SNIM), a nationalized company responsible for managing the iron supply chain from the mine to the train to the port, stands as Mauritania's largest company and employer after the civil service. While iron serves as Mauritania's primary export, the local population benefits from the industry through the provision of free transportation. In a sparsely populated and poorly connected country like Mauritania, hitching a ride on the iron ore train remains one of the few ways to traverse the vast desert.

Despite having a single passenger car, the train's cramped and inhospitable conditions lead most passengers to opt for riding on top. Using the grainy iron as makeshift mattresses and the wagons as rudimentary outhouses, travelers embrace the desert sky's starry expanse as their muse. As the train makes its way through one of the darkest and driest terrains on Earth, the conductor switches off the lights, providing an optimal environment for stargazing. Shooting stars shine through plumes of iron dust stirred up by gusts of wind and the wagons' swaying motion. But the Sahara Desert does not offer its splendor without a challenge: daytime temperatures can scorch enough to boil an egg, while nights demand heavy blankets and winter jackets to combat the biting cold.

Savoring morning tea amid the rickety ride aboard the Iron Ore Train

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🕹️ Travel tips: The Iron Ore Train operates daily without exception, departing from Zouérat. While the official departure time is 11 am, it is common knowledge that the train typically departs between 12 pm and 6 pm, or possibly even later. To obtain the approximate departure time for a specific day, visit the railway office. Another option is to board the train at Choum, which will save you approximately 4 hours on the nearly day-long journey to Nouadibou, the terminal station and Mauritania's second largest city. It is crucial to be well-prepared for the journey in the vast Sahara desert, so remember to bring warm sleeping bags, goggles, masks, and ample food and water for an unforgettable experience.