Few railway stations were built in Libya during the 20th century. The ones that were built were by the Italians from the 1920s as part of their colonial administration. Today there are no functioning railway stations active in the country, but new ones are planned, as part of a new railroad system. [1]
Between 1920 and 1936 the Italians built some five small railways in Italian Libya. Served by a host of small stations. The Kingdom of Italy built nearly 400 km of railways with 950 mm (3 ft 1+3⁄8 in) gauge during their rule of the region. [2]
Nearly 40 minor and major railways stations were built in Libya by the Italians. The biggest and most important being located in Italian Tripoli. In 1965, the last remaining stations in Benghazi and Suluq were closed. No Italian-era stations are currently active.
By the 1960s there were only two small railways in Libya, departing from Benghazi and serving classical Littorine: Benghazi-Barce and Benghazi-Soluch. In 1965 last remaining stations in Benghazi and Soluch closed. Today no active railway exists in Libya.
Tripoli station in the capital Tripoli, was the main terminal for western Libya, not far away from the port and the "Fiera internazionale di Tripoli". The station was connected to the stations of Zuara, Tagiura and Garian by small but very active railways.
Benghazi station was the second in importance, located in downtown Benghazi. It closed in 1963, when the last small railway of former Italian Libya the Benghazi-Solluch line was closed and dismantled.
Other important railways stations were those in:
Plans for a new rail network, complete with stations have been under development for some time since the end of the 20th century. In the first years of the 21st century an ambitious railway plan was drawn up, with the support of former dictator Gaddafi. With backing from Russian Railways and China work started in September 2008 with earthworks begun between Sirte and Ras Ajdir, Tunisia border, in 2001-5, [3] and in 2008 and 2009 various contracts were placed and construction work started on a 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge railway parallel to the coast from the Tunisian border at Ras Ajdir to Tripoli, and on to Misrata, Sirte, Benghazi and Bayda. Another railway line will run inland from Misrata to Sabha at the centre of a mineral-rich area. [4] However, due to the ongoing conflict as a result of the Libyan Civil War, no new work on the rail network has been carried out since 2012.
Benghazi is the second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 1,207,250 in 2020. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean, Benghazi is also a major seaport.
Misrata or Misratah, also known by the Italian spelling Misurata, is a city in the Misrata District in northwestern Libya, situated 187 km (116 mi) to the east of Tripoli and 825 km (513 mi) west of Benghazi on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. With a population of about 881,000, it is the third-largest city in Libya, after Tripoli and Benghazi. It is the capital city of the Misrata District and has been called the trade capital of Libya. The harbor is at Qasr Ahmad.
Sirte, also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is located south of the Gulf of Sirte, between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups, and loyalty to Muammar Gaddafi. Due to developments in the First Libyan Civil War, it was briefly the capital of Libya as Tripoli's successor after the Fall of Tripoli from 1 September to 20 October 2011. The settlement was established in the early 20th century by the Italians, at the site of a 19th-century fortress built by the Ottomans. It grew into a city after World War II.
Ras Ajdir, alternatively Ras Jdir or Ras Ejder, is a small coastal town on the border between Tunisia and Libya and Libya's most northerly point.
There have been no operational railways in Libya since 1965, but various lines existed in the past. Since 1998, plans for an extensive system have been developed, but work has largely halted since the outbreak of the First Libyan Civil War in 2011.
The Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Tunisiens, abbreviated SNCFT, is the national railway of Tunisia and under the direction of the Ministry of Transport. SNCFT was founded on December 27, 1956 It Replaced the Tunisian Railway Farms Company (CFT). Headquartered in Tunis the company employs about 6000 people. SNCFT provides both passenger and freight services at a national level.
The Libyan Coastal Highway, formerly the Litoranea Balbo, is a highway that is the only major road that runs along the entire east-west length of the Libyan Mediterranean coastline. It is a section in the Cairo–Dakar Highway #1 in the Trans-African Highway system of the African Union, Arab Maghreb Union and others.
This page list topics related to Libya.
The 2007-08 Libyan Third Division was the 24th edition of the Libyan Third Division football. It took place from November 2007 to June 2008. Wefaq Ajdabiya won the title, having won the championship playoffs between the winners of the regional leagues.
Railway stations in Tunisia include: (stations grouped by lines)
Libyan railways are the Italian colonial railways in Italian Libya. They are related to the development of the railways in the Italian colonial empire. This history started with the opening in 1888 of a short section of line in Italian Eritrea, and ended in 1947 with the loss of Italian Libya after the Allied offensive in North Africa and the destruction of the railways around Italian Tripoli. The railways in the Italian colonial empire reached 1,561 km before World War II.
Tripoli Province was one of the provinces of Libya under Italian rule. It was established in 1937, with the official name: Commissariato Generale Provinciale di Tripoli. It lasted until 1947.
Benghazi Province, or Provincia di Bengasi in Italian, was one of the provinces of Libya under Italian rule. It was established in 1937.
Libyan refugees are people who fled or were expelled from their homes since the beginning of the Libyan Crisis in 2011, including during the First Libyan Civil War, that deposed Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, and the Second Libyan Civil War (2014–2020). Many people have been displaced from Libya to neighbouring Tunisia, Egypt and Chad, as well as to European countries across the Mediterranean. The majority of refugees from Libya are Arabs, though many others are sub-Saharan African migrants who were living in Libya. These groups were also among the first refugee waves to exit the country. The total number of Libyan refugees was estimated at around one million in June 2011, with most returning to Libya after the First Civil War ended. In January 2013, there were 5,252 refugees originating from Libya alongside 59,425 internally displaced persons registered by the UNHCR.
The timeline of the Libyan civil war begins on 15 February 2011 and ends on 20 October 2011. The conflict began with a series of peaceful protests, similar to others of the Arab Spring, later becoming a full-scale civil war between the forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi's government and the anti-Gaddafi forces. The conflict can roughly be divided into two periods before and after external military intervention authorized by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973.
The Libyan Civil War began on 15 February 2011 as a civil protest and later evolved into a widespread uprising. However, by 19 March, Libyan forces under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi were on the brink of a decisive victory over rebels in Libya's east. That day, leading NATO members acted on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 which authorized member states "to take all necessary measures... to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding an occupation force".
Italian Libya Railways was a group of railways built in the Italian colony of Libya between the two World Wars.
Italian Benghazi was the name used during the Italian colonization of Libya for the port-city of Benghazi in Italian Cyrenaica.
This is a detailed timeline of the Libyan civil war (2014–2020) which lasted from 2014 to 2020.
