The National Office of Transport (French : Office National des Transports, or ONATRA) is a publicly owned company based in Kinshasa which operates railways, ports, and river transport in the north and west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the Congo River. It is the continuation of the Office of Colonial Transport (Office des transports coloniaux, OTRACO) founded in 1935 and has subsequently existed under other names.
The 'Office des transports coloniaux (or "Colonial transport agency, OTRACO) was established, in 1935, as a public body, and renamed the Office des transports au Congo (OTRACO) in 1960, finally becoming the "Office National des Transports" (ONATRA) in 1971.
In 1973, ONATRA carried its largest number of passengers ever, a total of 410,871.
In 1977, the government decided to end ONATRA's monopoly of river transport, and to allow any individual or company to own and operate river boats.
Decline in the state of its assets, together with competition, led to a sharp decline, so that by 1982, it only carried 121,779 passengers.
The network includes:
Ground transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has always been difficult. The terrain and climate of the Congo Basin present serious barriers to road and rail construction, and the distances are enormous across this vast country. Furthermore, chronic economic mismanagement and internal conflict has led to serious under-investment over many years.
Kinshasa, formerly Léopoldville, is the capital and the largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is situated alongside the Congo River.
Matadi is the chief sea port of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the Kongo Central province, adjacent to the border with Angola. It has a population of 245,862 (2004). Matadi is situated on the left bank of the Congo River, 148 km (92 mi) from the mouth and 8 km (5.0 mi) below the last navigable point before the rapids that make the river impassable for a long stretch upriver. It was founded by Sir Henry Morton Stanley in 1879.
The Pool Malebo, formerly Stanley Pool, also known as Lake Nkunda by local indigenous people in pre-colonial times, is a lake-like widening in the lower reaches of the Congo River. The former name Stanley Pool was named after early European explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley.
Kongo Central, formerly Bas-Congo, is one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Matadi.
An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port, which is an inland extension of a seaport, usually connected by rail to the docks. This article covers only ports that are covered by the first definition.
Boma is a port town on the Congo River, some 100 km upstream from the Atlantic Ocean, in the Kongo Central province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, adjacent to the border with Angola. It had an estimated population of 162,521 in 2012.
The Congo–Ocean Railway links the Atlantic port of Pointe-Noire with Brazzaville, a distance of 502 kilometres (312 mi). It bypasses the rapids on the lower Congo River; from Brazzaville, river boats are able to ascend the Congo River and its major tributaries, including the Oubangui River to Bangui.
The Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo is the national railway company for the inland railways of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was formerly known as the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Zaïrois. Due to the civil war, the railway was not functioning from 1998 until June 29, 2004. During the war, 500 km of railway in the provinces of Maniema and Katanga were destroyed. A million dollar grant from the United States Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance is helping to pay for the section's repair. Charities often use the railway to distribute food and other supplies. Despite foreign support, SNCC was again on the brink of collapse in 2010; to prevent this, in June 2010 the World Bank gave a 255 million US dollar grant.
The Matadi Bridge, also known as the OEBK Bridge, and formerly known as Pont Maréchal in French, is a suspension bridge across the Congo River in Matadi, Democratic Republic of Congo. It was completed in 1983 by a consortium of Japanese companies. With a main span of 520 metres (1,710 ft), it was the longest suspension bridge in Africa from its inauguration until the 2018 opening of the Maputo–Katembe bridge. The bridge crosses the Congo River at its narrowest point, just downstream from the port of Matadi. It is in fact the only road and rail crossing of the Congo River proper; the only other existing crossing is the Kongolo Bridge, in the eastern province of Katanga, spanning actually the Lualaba River, one of Congo River headstream - some 2,200 km to the east by road or 3,800 km upstream on the river.
The Matadi–Kinshasa Railway is a railway line in Kongo Central province between the port of Matadi and Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Articles related to the Democratic Republic of the Congo include:
Rail transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is provided by the National Railway Company of the Congo, the ONATRA and the Office of the Uele Railways.
The Brazzaville–Kinshasa Bridge is a planned road-rail bridge that will connect Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, two major capital cities on the Congo River. The project has proceeded intermittently, but work is slated to begin in August 2020 after receiving a $210m loan from the African Development Bank.
Media in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are both nationally and internationally state owned and operated.
The Congo River is divided into three navigable parts, by seagoing ship to Matadi, where there is a wharf and port, a rail bypassing the mighty falls for 200 miles; and then a middle section of over 1000 miles from Leopoldville (Kinshasa) to Stanleyville (Kisangani) where the Stanley Falls breaks the river. The upper section of the river is partially navigable to Lubumbashi, a measure of 1000 miles. The large copper deposits of Katanga are conveyed from Elisabethville (Lumbumbashi). The Congo River was an open river in that it was free for all nations to use as per an 1885 international agreement, which was tested by an Oscar Chinn, a British national, in the International Court in 1931.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Mayumbe line was a 140 km (87 mi) long 610 mm gauge narrow gauge railway in the north west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between the port of Boma and Tshela.
Lufu-Toto, formerly known as Cattier after Félicien Cattier, is a locality in the province of Bas-Congo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a secondary station on the Matadi-Kinshasa railway line, housing the depots of the Office National des Transports (ONATRA).
