TANZANIA: A contract has been signed for the construction of a 1 435 mm gauge line running west from Tabora to the port of Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika.
The US$2·21bn contract was signed by Tanzania Railway Corp and a joint venture of China Civil Engineering Construction Corp and China Railway Construction Corp on December 20.
The main line would be 411 km long, with 95 km of other tracks, 10 stations and two freight terminals at Uvinza and Katosho.
Construction is scheduled to take 48 months. CCECC Chief Executive Zhang Junlee said the Chinese company would create many jobs and train local engineers as part of the project.
Tanzania’s electrified standard gauge railway network has been under development since 2012 and is eventually expected to total 2 561 route-km, running inland from the Indian Ocean coast at Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, Kigoma and Katavi.
TRC has previously awarded contracts for the full corridor between Dar es Salaam and Mwanza via Tabora, where the line to be built under the latest contract will branch off.
The contract was signed in the presence of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who said the SGR would open up Tanzania and provide an export route for the output from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Minister of Construction & Transport Makame Mbarawa said the development of Tanzania’s transport sector would unite the country and create business and investment opportunities in other sectors.
