Useful country information

Libreville (Owendo) to Franceville

Trains link Libreville with Franceville several nights a week, either the faster Train Express Trans-Ogooue (formerly Ntsa Express) or the all-stations Train Omnibus l'Equateur.  The station at Libreville is Owendo, which is about 4 or 5 miles south of Libreville itself.  Although most trains run overnight, there are no sleeping berths, only seats.  This timetable applied from July 2016 Haut saison (high season) and still applies in 2017.  It's possible there will be fewer trains in the peak season, whenever that is!  Feedback would be appreciated.

Express:  VIP class, 1st class, 2nd class, restaurant car, in cars built in Korea in 2011.

Omnibus:  VIP class, 1st class & 2nd class in second hand cars, including some 1960s stainless steel ex-Trans Europe Express cars from France.

How much does it cost?

How to buy tickets...

You can buy tickets at the station, and at a SETRAG sales point in central Libreville, behind Pellison.  To arrange tickets in advance, try the following travel agency:

Infoline: (+241) 06 57 39 66
www.ngondetour.com

Train Express, 2nd class... Photo courtesy of Clive Leatherdale		Train Express, 1st class... Photo courtesy of Clive Leatherdale

Train Express, restaurant car... Photo courtesy of Clive Leatherdale		The express train at Owendo... Photo courtesy of Clive Leatherdale

Owendo station, some 4 miles from Libreville... Photo courtesy of Clive Leatherdale		Owendo station ticket office... Photo courtesy of Clive Leatherdale

Traveller's reports...

This page is compiled with help gratefully received from traveller Clive Leatherdale, who reports, "Previous guidebooks have suggested the train is decrepit and prone to breakdown and delay.  To my untrained eye, the train looked modern and reliable. On the day I visited the station it arrived on schedule to the minute.  Owendo station struck me by its cleanliness and efficiency, and Gabon seems proud of its railway.  One thing was odd, i couldn't see any VIP car on the Ntsa Express, only two 1st class cars"

More information...

If anyone has any more information. photos or travel reports that would be useful for this page, please e-mail me!

Sponsored links...

Find hotels in Gabon...

Other hotel sites worth trying...

• www.tripadvisor.com is the place to find independent travellers' reviews of all the main hotels.

• www.booking.com is my own preferred hotel booking system (Hotels Combined being a search/comparison system).  It has a simple interface, a good selection in most countries worldwide, useful online customer reviews of each hotel, and decent prices, usually shown inclusive of unavoidable extras such as taxes (a pet hate of mine is systems that show one price, then charge you another!).

Backpacker hostels...

• www.hostelworld.com:  If you're on a tight budget, don't forget about backpacker hostels.  Hostelworld offers online booking of cheap private rooms or dorm beds in backpacker hostels in most cities at rock-bottom prices.

Travel insurance & health card...

Take out decent travel insurance, it's essential...

Never travel overseas without travel insurance from a reliable insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover.  It should also cover cancellation and loss of cash and belongings, up to a sensible limit.  An annual multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip policies even for just 2 or 3 trips a year, I have an annual policy myself.  Here are some suggested insurers.  Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these links.

In the UK, try Columbus Direct or use Confused.com to compare prices & policies from many different insurers.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition or are over 65, see www.JustTravelCover.com - 10% discount with code seat61.

        If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, try Columbus Direct's other websites.

  If you live in the USA try Travel Guard USA.

Get a spare credit card, designed for travel with no currency exchange loading & low or no ATM fees...

It costs nothing to take out an extra credit card.  If you keep it in a different part of your luggage so you're not left stranded if your wallet gets stolen, this is a form of extra travel insurance in itself.  In addition, some credit cards are significantly better for overseas travel than others.  Martin Lewis's www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which UK credit cards have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when you use an ATM abroad.  Taking this advice can save you quite a lot on each trip compared to using your normal high-street bank credit card!