The line from Elisabethville (
Lubumbashi) down to
Bukama on the
Lualaba River was started in 1911 and completed in 1918. In 1919 the BCK founded the subsidiary
Société Minière du Bécéka for mining research. BCK connected the mines of Southern Katanga, or Shaba, to the port of
Ilebo on the
Kasai River. The line from Bukama to Ilebo was started in 1923 and completed in 1928. In Ilebo the minerals were transshipped to riverboats and carried to
Kinshasa. From there, they were taken on the
Matadi–Kinshasa Railway down to the
Atlantic port of
Matadi for export. In the 1920s it was proposed to build a rail link from Ilebo to Kinshasa, but this was never implemented. The
Société des Chemins de fer Léopoldville-Katanga-Dilolo (LKD) was created through a 16 September 1927 agreement between the government and BCK, and was an administrative and financial vehicle. The government was its main shareholder, and granted it concessions for the three lines: Bukama–Port-Francqui, Tenke–Dilolo and Port-Francqui–Léopoldville. Construction and operation of the lines was subcontracted to BCK. BCK was responsible for all the track, and operated the network and equipment as a whole. The line from Tenke to Dilolo was completed in 1931. At Dilolo the BCK network connected to the
Benguela railway, which carried goods to the port of
Lobito on the Atlantic. In 1952 LKD merged with CFK to form the
Compagnie des Chemins de fer Katanga-Dilolo-Léopoldville (KDL). KDL held the rail network concessions in Katanga, while BCK was the operator. Between 1952 and 1956 the
Chemins de Fer des Grands Lacs (CFL) built a line from
Kabalo to
Kabongo. In September 1955 the CFL
converted from to gauge to match the KDL gauge. The connecting line from Kabongo to
Kamina was built by BCK for the KDL. The
Democratic Republic of the Congo became independent in 1960. In 1961 the BCK was divided into two companies: an old BCK under Belgian law and a new BCK under Congolese law. The latter was taken over in 1970 by the
Compagnie de chemin de fer de Kinshasa-Dilolo-Lubumbashi (KDL). On 1 July 1974 KDL was taken over by the state-owned
Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Zaïrois, which now owned all the railways in the Congo. ==Network==