One of the longest trains in the world - 700 km across the Sahara desert - 4 locomotives, 210 freight cars with a total length of 2,5 km: Discover the fascination of the Sahara Express.

In one of the most comprehensive scientainment film projects ever made, a film crew accompanies the iron-ore express train across the country of Mauritania in West Africa.

The real treasure of the Sahara lies in a no-man’s land: Zouerate, the city of mines. Every year the desert dwellers here wrest 15 million tons of iron ore from the dusty landscape. The raw material is then transported on the Sahara Express to the coast. This epic train voyage normally requires 18 – 20 hours if there are no breakdowns.

But in this vast and unpredictable desert, where the exception is the rule, anything can happen…at any time.
The rails, which are actually built into the sand, are under a dangerous strain from the extremely overloaded trains. Often, a train will jump the tracks as a result. The biggest hazards of all are the sandstorms and the continually shifting dunes.

It is up to the mining supervisor, the railway engineer, the mine’s explosives expert and the train’s conductor to ensure the safe excavation and delivery of the iron-ore, the true treasure of the Sahara.

The Sahara Express
Documentary, 1 x 45’
Directed by Bernhard Albrecht
Produced by ProSieben Televisions GmbH for ProSieben in association with SevenOne International
All rights reserved © SevenOne International - Credits not contractual - Different territories