SGR operators’ training kicks off

 

Director general Masanja Kadogosa speaking during the launching of the training in Dar es Salaam PHOTO | COURTESY

By Naomi Achieng

What you need to know:

• Tanzania is collaborating with Korea to train some 1,040 locals to operate the much awaited Standard Gauge Railway line expected to commence this year

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania has commenced training of operators expected to manage logistics related to the much awaited 1,219km standard gauge railway (SGR) from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, which is expected to cost some $7.6 billion upon completion.

Already, Tanzania has partnered with South Korea to train some 1,040 locals to manage the Phase I and Phase II of the SGR railway line project from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma which is anticipated to be ready this December.

The three-year training course will aim at imparting and learning new modern engineering skills from South Korea with at least 303 Tanzanians on board at its initial stage.

“Tanzanians will learn on how to operate the SGR locomotives while in the control room, they will also learn about operational and logistics issues in general and safety. These skills will help us later to manage the SGR ourselves,” Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) director general Masanja Kadogosa said while briefing members of the Parliamentary Standing Committees for Infrastructure Development and Public Investments (PAC) early this week.

According to the director general, the trainees will first learn theory before moving on with practicals and also timely arrangement of the train schedules.

“The construction is progressing well for all the stations from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, the construction of the stations from Morogoro to Makutupora in Dodoma has reached 91 percent,” he said.

Mr Kadogosa said TRC was currently in negotiations with the Land Transport Regulatory Authority (Latra) regarding the fares for the much awaited SGR railway and are expected to conclude the talks by December this year.

The Phase I of the project from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro was inaugurated by President John Magufuli in 2017 under Yapi Merkezi, a Turkish contractor in partnership with Mota Engil Africa from Portugal.

The projects that runs from Tanzania’s commercial city of Dar es Salaam, to the rock city in Mwanza at some 1,219km is expected to cost some $7.6 billion upon completion. The project will also link with Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tanzania secured a concessional loan for the construction of the project from China’s Export-Import Bank (Exim ).