Govt looks for partner to revamp Central Railway

By Polycarp Machira

  Construction to begin this year

Dr Harisson Mwakyembe

The Central Railway Line is to be upgraded to standard gauge, the government says, adding that construction is likely to begin this year.

President Jakaya Kikwete said this when he addressed his ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) youths in the city recently.


He said the government had since identified various partners to help the government fund the project that could transform the country’s major railway line.
“We will have a partner by June this year … and we look forward to begin working as soon as possible,” he said.
He said the railway line was important to the national economy and would increase efficiency of the railway line and reduce road dependency when transporting goods from the port of Dar es Salaam to upcountry regions and landlocked countries.

Impeccable government sources told The Guardian on Sunday that a Chinese construction firm had since expressed readiness to help Tanzania in revamping the dilapidated central railway line.

President of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), Yuan Li, reportedly said this in Beijing when speaking to Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, recently on an official tour of the country.

“We have started talking to the Ministry of Transport … soon, we’ll start building the central railway line,” he said.

He said the Chinese and Tanzanian partners will begin building the railway line in phases, for instance, Dar –Morogoro; Morogoro-Dodoma; Dodoma- Tabora; Tabora-Kigoma; Tabora-Shinyanga; and Mwanza, Tabora and Mpanda.

Citing an example, Li said through a loan from Exim Bank, his firm had started constructing a railway line between Djibouti and South Sudan -- and between Djibouti and Ethiopia. The two railway lines are expected to be completed in two years.

Pinda told Li that right now, the central railway line had been dilapidated.
All these come almost a year since the government announced its intention to revamp the railway line.

Last year, the government said it would spend $330m to upgrade its railway network in order to make it compatible with those across Central and Southern Africa.

The venture involves track repair and upgrades, including changing the national network to standard gauge.
The move follows a tripartite agreement to harmonize operations between the Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara), Zambia Railways Ltd and Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Du Congo Sarl of the Democratic Republic of Congo — the national railway operators for Tanzania, Zambia and the DRC respectively.

The deal is expected to facilitate smooth and seamless transportation of goods and passengers in the three states. Dr Harrison Mwakyembe (pictured), Tanzania Minister for Transport, said some Tsh6bn ($3.7 million) had so far been spent on renovating train carriages and railway infrastructure for Tanzania Railways Ltd. The government had ordered 274 new passenger wagons, 22 locomotives, 25 wagons and 34 rolling stock brakes (brake vans), which are expected in the country before June this year.

Mwakyembe says the government -- through Tazara -- has also secured $39m from China to buy six new locomotives, 90 new wagons and spare parts, as well as renovate nine locomotive engines.

The central line running westwards from Dar es Salaam through Dodoma will be improved substantially this year. The upgraded Tanzanian central line on standard gauge is expected to carry 35 million tons of freight annually to Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and eastern DRC.

Damas Ndumbaro, acting managing director of Tazara, said the acquisition of new locomotives and other measures were expected to increase cargo haulage.
Dr Ndumbaro said the government of Zambia would provide the $32m needed to keep the “Uhuru” rail afloat.

Tazara operates in two countries — Zambia and Tanzania — both of which have a regional manager working on set performance benchmarks. Tanzania hosts the railway authority’s headquarters.

Each regional manager is tasked with increasing tonnage from 30,000 to 80,000.
The railway line to connect Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania is now under construction.

Charles Tizeba, Deputy Minister for Transport, said the Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali and Keza-Gitega-Musongoti railway project, which is estimated to cost $5.2bn, will take four years -- and is expected to lower Rwanda and Burundi’s transport costs.

Rwanda and Burundi have had to bear high transport costs ferrying goods from the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, which have increased the cost of doing business in the two countries.

The new railway line is also expected to reduce the time it takes to transport cargo from Dar es Salaam; use of the road takes four days – but the railway will take just two days.

Tanzania currently seeks $13.3bn to finance infrastructure projects – which include the rehabilitation of the railway line from Dar es Salaam to Tabora as well as the Kaliua-Mpanda line to Kasanga port on Lake Tanganyika.
 

SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY