ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

History of rail transport in Equatorial Guinea

Hi there, sweetie! Today, I'm going to talk to you about something called the history of rail transport in Equatorial Guinea. Now, Equatorial Guinea is a country located in Africa, near the equator. Rail transport is a way to move people and things around on a special track called rails.

A long time ago, Equatorial Guinea didn't have rail transport because it was a very small country and people mostly walked or used boats to travel. However, in the early 1900s, Spain, a country far away, decided to colonize Equatorial Guinea. This means they took control of the country and people there. Spain brought rail transport to Equatorial Guinea to help them move things like timber and minerals from one place to another.

There was a special train called the Rio Muni Railway that was built in 1908 by Spain. It was the first train in Equatorial Guinea and traveled on a narrow gauge track. This means the distance between the rails was shorter than in other countries, making it harder for other trains from different countries to use it.

The Rio Muni Railway traveled through the forests, picking up timber and taking it to the coast to be used for things like building and paper. People also used the train to travel across the country. It was very exciting for the people of Equatorial Guinea to have a train.

However, in the 1960s, when Equatorial Guinea gained independence from Spain, the rail transport began to decline. There wasn't enough money to maintain the trains and the tracks, so they slowly stopped being used. In the 1990s, the government tried to revive the rail transport system by rebuilding some of the trains and tracks, but it never became as popular as it was before.

That's the story of rail transport in Equatorial Guinea, sweetie! It started with Spain bringing in the Rio Muni Railway in the early 1900s to help move things around and let people travel, but as Equatorial Guinea gained independence from Spain, the trains and tracks started to decline.