South Africa runs a 7.6km freight train, possibly the longest ever
Transnet's 696-wagon test train ran 860km to an iron ore mine, beating a 2001 Australian record.
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Saldanha Bay — South Africa's state transport company Transnet says a test train it ran this month may be the longest freight train in history, at 7.6 kilometres (about 4.7 miles).
The train of 696 wagons left Saldanha Bay on the west coast on 18 October and travelled about 860km inland to an iron ore mine. Electric and diesel locomotives were spread along its length to keep it moving. All the wagons were empty.
Most freight trains are between about 0.8km and 2.4km long. Transnet says the record it beat was set in Western Australia in 2001, by a 4.5-mile ore train running between a mine and a port.
Source: Africanews / AP, 27 October 2026.
