Angola rail line, built by China, gets rolling

A 1,344-kilometer railway that traverses Angola started operating on Saturday, becoming the fastest line in the nation, according to its builder, China Railway Construction Corp.

The Benguela Railway links the Atlantic port of Lobito on the west to the eastern border town of Luau, as well as to rail networks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, of Zambia and beyond, the Beijing-based infrastructure giant said in a statement. It is the second-longest railway to be built by a Chinese company for Africa, after the Tanzania-Zambia line, which was built in the 1970s.

The new line, under construction since 2004, will be linked with the Angola-Zambia railway and the Tanzania-Zambia railway in the future, the statement said, adding that it's all part of a "grand international rail passage" connecting the Atlantic and Indian oceans.