Malaysian firm to invest in locomotive assembly plant in Tanzania

A locomotive is offloaded from a ship at Dar es Salaam Port yesterday. It was one of three locomotives worth Sh22 billion handed over to Tanzania Railways Corporation, which will use them to haul cargo between Dar es Salaam and the inland port of Isaka in Shinyanga Region. PHOTO | MICHAEL MATEMANGABy Alex Nelson Malanga

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Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will start producing locomotives and wagons within a year if a foot plan by Malaysia’s railway engineering service provider to invest between $40 million (about Sh92 billion) and $100 million (about Sh230 billion) here in the country comes to fruition.

SMH Rail has already secured 50 acres of land at Kwala in Kibaha, Coast Region for building of a rolling stock manufacturing plant to manufacture locomotives, wagons and a diesel–electric multiple unit (Demu).

This is according to the company’s representative, Mr Mussa Mansour, who was speaking here yesterday on the sideline interview of an event to handover to the Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC) of the Sh22 billion worth three modern locomotives (H10 series) for the metre gauge railway (MGR).

Mr Mansour said they were expecting to soon start the construction of the factory that is set to create 1,000 direct jobs to Tanzanians.

“If all goes as planned, the construction will be complete within six months to one year,” he unveiled.

“The manufacturing plant would be an internationally designed, and environmentally friendly--incorporating state-of-the-art technology and the world’s best practices in the rolling stock manufacturing.”

Mr Mansour said the construction of the manufacturing plant would enable SMH Rail to maximise the usage of local content and thus reduce the outflow of currency for the government.

This also would provide a platform for local vendors to contribute local products to be integrated in the manufacturing activities.

Works and Transport minister Makame Mbarawa said the construction of the manufacturing plant would reduce costs that the government was incurring to import locomotives and wagons.

The locomotives handed to TRC yesterday were part of the $300 million of the World Bank’s Tanzania – Intermodal and Rail Development Project (TIRP) whose objective is to deliver reliable open access infrastructure on the Dar es Salaam-Isaka rail segment.

It is also meant to strengthen the capacities of agencies to manage infrastructure and network regulation.

Prof Mbarawa said the locomotives, whose engineering design is in compliance with the International Union of Railways, are intended to improve operational efficiency, increase haulage capacity and reduce maintenance challenges. “This will result in lower overall life cycle costs,” noted the minister.

TRC director general Masanja Kadogosa said the just delievered modern locomotives could potentially reduce carbon emissions by up to 75 percent, and are more fuel efficient than road freight transport on average.

They were equipped with remote monitoring and diagnostic solutions to provide real-time updates to rail operators, he added. “Its data analysis tracks negligent handling, reduces risks of failures and improves operational safety,” hinted Mr Kadogosa.