Sudan

Laurent de Walick / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · 2019 · cropped

Sudan covers 1,886,068 km² of north-east Africa, which makes it the continent's third-largest country, and its capital is Khartoum, built where the White Nile and the Blue Nile meet. Egypt and Libya lie to the north, Chad and the Central African Republic to the west, South Sudan to the south, and Ethiopia and Eritrea to the south-east, with the Red Sea along the north-east. The Nile runs the length of the country through desert, and along its banks stand the temples and pyramids of the Kingdom of Kush.

The railway was begun in 1897 as a military line across the desert and still follows the Cape gauge chosen then. Most of its traffic moves between the capital and the sea at Port Sudan, and its headquarters and workshops are at Atbara, where the two meet. The war that began in April 2023 stopped the passenger trains. Services have been restored a line at a time since December 2024, on announced dates rather than a printed timetable, and tickets are bought at the station.

Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Network4,725 km, single track
Busiest routeKhartoum to Port Sudan, via Atbara
OperatorSudan Railways Corporation (state-owned)
CapitalKhartoum
CurrencySudanese pound (SDG)

Rail journeys in Sudan

Khartoum to Port Sudan

Sudan's railway is running again: the Nile Train from Khartoum to Atbara, past the pyramids of Meroë, and on through the desert to the Red Sea.

View journey →

Good to know

Are trains running in Sudan?

Some are. Passenger services stopped when the war began in April 2023. The Port Sudan–Atbara line reopened in December 2024, the Nile Train returned between Atbara and Khartoum Bahri in February 2026, and the line south from Khartoum to Wad Madani was reopened in July 2026. In October 2026 the Sudan Railways Corporation said one of its four passenger trainsets was in service. Runs are announced a few days ahead in the Sudanese press and at the stations.

How do you buy a train ticket in Sudan?

At the station. The Sudan Railways Corporation has no online booking, and its own site asks travellers to confirm fares and schedules at the main stations, whose ticket offices open from 09:00 to 15:00 or three hours before a departure. Fares are in Sudanese pounds.

Are there rail passes for Sudan?

No. Sudan belongs to no pass scheme and the railway sells no multi-journey ticket. Fares are set per journey and paid at the ticket office.