The Benguela Railway in Angola has opened a branch line meant to improve the distribution of fuels in the east of the country, Angop reports.

The Angolan state-run news agency says the line runs for 4 km from the railway station in the city of Luena to a facility for filling and storing butane cylinders belonging to the Angolan state oil company, Sonangol EP.

The report quotes Sonangol president Sebastião Gaspar Martins as saying the line will allow liquid or gas fuels to be transported direct to the facility from the port of Lobito.

The opening of the line means Sonangol can increase the frequency of trains carrying fuels to Luena to three a week from just one, easing a shortage of fuels in the provinces of Moxico, Lunda Sul and Lunda Norte, the report says.

State-owned China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corp. built the branch line and Sonangol paid the US$3 million cost, Angop says.