Luanda, Oct. 20, 2025 (Lusa) - The rail link between Luanda and Angola's new António Agostinho Neto International Airport (AIAAN) will only resume in the first quarter of 2026, due to ongoing works to ensure greater safety for citizens and trains, it was announced on Monday.
The information was conveyed by the spokesperson for Caminho de Ferro de Luanda (CFL, Luanda Railways), Augusto Osório, who said that the ongoing construction works in the perimeter aim to ensure "maximum safety" for people crossing the railway line and also for train users.
"This work is ongoing. We are certain that in 2026 we will have this train back to the airport and we believe it will be in the first quarter of next year," he told Lusa today, adding that greater train movements are expected once the work is completed.
Regular passenger train services on the section between Bungo station (Luanda) and the AIAAN Railway Terminal, located in the district of Catete, Icolo e Bengo province, 40 kilometres from the centre of Luanda, will resume as soon as all the necessary safety conditions are met, according to a statement from CFL.
Passenger services were suspended on 16th of June and were due to resume in September, according to information released at the time.
According to Augusto Osório, the works, which began some time ago, include the construction of a fence along the entire length of the railway line and the construction of pedestrian overpasses, with a view to preventing accidents and deaths of people travelling along the line.
"This work is to ensure maximum safety for people, because we have a history of people who, unfortunately, cross the railway line at various points, which has led to many accidents, with injuries and deaths (...). The work (...) began some time ago to ensure greater safety for trains and pedestrians," he explained.
On the other hand, he said, the work in progress should create greater flow of trains: "At the end of these works, we are sure that we will have fewer obstacles and can improve the flow of rail traffic, which is what we want," he concluded.
On Sunday, Angolan airline TAAG definitively transferred all its operations to AIAAN, which has already begun to receive international and regional flights from the Angolan state-owned company.
TAAG's operations, which are to be joined by other international companies, should result in greater mobility of people on the Luanda-Icolo and Bengo route and vice versa, with rail transport being one of the alternatives on this route.
DAS/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
