Under the agreement signed by the director general of the Sudanese Railways Authority Mr Ibrahim Fadl, China Railway Design Corporation and China Friendship Development International Engineering Design & Consultation Company will examine the viability of building a standard-gauge line linking Port Sudan with the Chadian capital N’Djamena via Khartoum.

In December 2011 Chad’s Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation signed an agreement with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation for the construction of a 1364km standard-gauge network, including an 836km line from N'Djamena to Adré on the Sudanese border.

In November 2015 a tripartate agreement was signed by the governments of Sudan, Chad and Cameroon to build a line linking Port Sudan with the capitals of the three countries, with financing expected to come from China’s Exim Bank.

The governments of Chad and Cameroon subsequently signed an aide-memoire with the African Development Bank in July 2017 with the aim of securing funds for a feasibility study into the N'Djamena - Ngaundere section of the line.