On this day, Mauritania's “Train du Désert” set off for the first time with a foreign tour group (Servrail from Switzerland) from Ben Amira (PK 393) westwards to the port of Nouadhibou, running the section as far as Boulenouar (PK 96). The SNIM's BB # 207, a GPL-15T built by EMD in 2004, pulls the double-decker former diesel railcar and the former second-class coach of the Czech railroad CD, which has been converted into a couchette coach, as well as two empty ore wagons serving as brake vans. The two passenger cars no longer have a brake system and have been converted to the Russian SA-3 center buffer coupling. The train is traveling between Tmeimichatt and Inal at around 60 km/h. The “Train du Désert” otherwise runs on order for groups between Ben Amira, Choum and Zouérate. The SNIM has 16 of this GPL-15T locomotives (BB # 201 to # 216) built between 2004 and 2008. The light blue double-decker car is the former diesel railcar An2 # 01, which was built by the consortio Cafici as a prototype for service on branch lines in 1982. After various test runs on lines in northern Italy, the vehicle was sold to Switzerland in 1988 to the president of the Vapeur Val de Travers association. Various attempts were made to find a suitable use for it, without success. The motorization with drive on only one of the bogies was insufficient. The vehicle was finally sold to Mauritania in 1997, where the drive and braking system were removed and the SA-3 center buffer coupling commonly used there was installed. The car was used on “Le Train du Désert”, although the train was shut down between around 2009 and 2019 for safety reasons (threat from the Polisario in Western Sahara). The passenger coach B # 50 54 20-41 269-2 was built for the Czech CD in the GDR (German Democratic Republic). In Mauritania it was converted into a couchette coach with 14 berths, it also contains a kitchen and a storage room as well as a staff compartment. This coach also no longer has a brake system. Therefore, two empty ore transport wagons run at the end of the train as brake wagons.
