There are currently four railway lines in Madagascar, all built in the early 20th century by French colonizers.

The “Tananarive-Côte Est” (TCE) line, which was finished in 1913, is the longest of them, stretching 374 km from the capital Antananarivo to Taomasina, the country’s main port.

In May 2007, train No. 4161 leaves Antananarivo station with 4 wagons of merchandise to go down the east coast… at a speed of 30 km/h.

The dilapidated infrastructures prevent the locomotives from going any faster than a snail’s pace.

(Text and caption in french inside the book)