LuganoPhotoDays 2016
LuganoPhotoDays
Daniel Rodrigues
Iron Train
The Iron Train in Mauritania is one of the longest train in the world, the train has about 2.5 km. A journey that goes from Nouadhibouh to Zouerate, totaling of 652 km in the middle of the Sahara desert that lasts about 16 hours (with the wagons empty) and 20 hours (with wagons fulls). An epic journey where residents, poor and penniless use dangerous train to visit relatives in the homeland or carrying goods such as live animals or fruits. High temperatures during the day and very low temperatures during the night makes the journey is not easy to do. But the worst is the dust that is produced by around 220 wagons full of iron minerals (around 20 000 tonnes) that come from a mine about 30km of Zouarate, north of Mauritania, to be unloaded in cargo boats in the port of Nouadhibouh. For those who have more money you can use the last carriage, which is a carriage for passengers where the price of each ticket is about $ 3. But the conditions are not the best. Typical carriage of years 50/60 where everything is old and the smell of urine is a constant throughout the 20-hour trip.