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railroad which, with the exception of the Yekepa - Buchanan
railway, were exclusively used for the transportation of the iron
ore from the mining site to the nearest seaport. The LAMCO-owned
Yekepa - Buchanan railway also transports agricultural products,
logs and timber, as well as general merchandise. It is the only
railway that provides passenger services - though on a very
limited scale. It should be noted, however, that the mining
concessionaires - with again the exception of LAMCO - have no
provision in their concession agreements with the Liberian
Government which obliges them to provide public railway services.
Liberia's railroads have an overall length of 303 miles. Their
individual length, costs, and the year of their completion are
shown in Table 66. The Liberia Mining Company and the National
Iron Ore Company (the latter's railroad is an extension of the
L.M.C. line) constructed narrow-gauge railroads (42 inches). The
railways of the Bong Mining Company and LAMCO are standard gauge
(56E inches). The importance of these (four) railroads in the
Liberian economy is clearly demonstrated by the fact that iron
ore constitutes about 90 per cent of all freight (by weight)
which is transported in the entire country. Besides, more than 99
per cent of the traffic volume of these four railways consists of
iron ore, on its way to one of the two Liberian ports which are
used to ship the ore to the overseas markets (31).
TABLE 66
SIZE, COSTS AND AGE OF LIBERIA'S RAILROAD SYSTEM.
NAME OF THE COMPANY-
L.M.C.
N.I.O.C.
LAMCO
B.M.C.
LENGTH OF
RAILWAY (MILES)
42
49
165
47
COSTS OF YEAR OF
RAILWAY (i;
M.) COMPLETION
10
10
60 to 70
18
1951
1961
(est. ) 1963
1964
Source: Author's research based on Klemmer (1964; pp. 13-14) and
Coale (1977; p. 86).
Water Transport
The construction of Liberia's four modern ports and the
increasing tonnage handled by them clearly reflect the growth of
the economy, notably the increase in the country's foreign trade.
In the light of the predominance of foreign investments in the
national economy it is not surprising that the ports were
constructed and developed, together with the railroad transport
sector, but before the expansion of another mode of transport in
the country.