- On May 1st, 2024, Tanzania launched the first test run of its state-of-the-art electric train.
- Tanzania Railways Corporation’s General Manager Masanja Kadogosa highlighted the project’s significance in fostering economic growth and enhancing transportation efficiency throughout Tanzania and Eastern Africa.
- Tanzania has purchased 10 sets of locomotives and coaches from the Hyundai Rotem Company of South Korea.
Electric train in Tanzania
Tanzanians now can travel a distance of nearly 200km within one hour and 40 minutes, a significant travel time and a long awaited as the nation ushers in transformative railway structures worth $10 billion.
On May 1st, 2024, Tanzania launched the first test run of its state-of-the-art electric train, Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from the nation’s commercial pulse Dar es Salaam to its capital Dodoma.
Then came the second experience on July 15th, when the first electric train, transporting ,400 passengers from the coastal city of Dar es Salaam to Morogoro in the west on its maiden journey, covering a 300-kilometer (186-mile) distance.
The ambitious transportation projects realised by two administrations is brought to reality by a Turkish based company, Yapi Merkezi in charge of constructing extensive railway structures extending over 1,000 kilometers. The latter has successfully finished the first segment.
Faster, Better, Stable
According to a report by Anadolu Agency, Yapi Merkezi’s Project Manager M. Firat Aygen underlined the transformative impact of the newly inaugurated railway, describing it as the initial step towards a broader transportation revolution in the region.
Further down the line, the reported noted that, Tanzania Railways Corporation’s General Manager Masanja Kadogosa highlighted the project’s significance in fostering economic growth and enhancing transportation efficiency throughout Tanzania and Eastern Africa.
He noted that the first journey, which transported 1,400 passengers for free, had reduced the travel time between the two cities to just two hours.With a shimmering facade of sky-blue glass panels, the Standard Gauge Railway Station in Tanzania’s commercial hub Dar es Salaam looks more like an opulent airport terminal than a railway facility.
The East African nation beats its neighbor Kenya and steps into the realm of advanced transportation as it adds two new electric multiple unit trains from South Africa.
On the same vein, the Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC) said it would increase the trains based on passenger numbers.
“Passengers are advised to book tickets on the firm’s website or at the windows inside train stations two hours before the train departs to avoid congestion,” said TRC in a statement.
Tanzania has purchased 10 sets of locomotives and coaches from the Hyundai Rotem Company of South Korea.
Each set includes eight wagons, with a locomotive at both the front and back, and has a capacity of carrying 589 passengers and a travelling speed of 160 kilometres per hour.
“TRC has received a total of 65 passenger wagons, 17 electric locomotives, and three sets of EMU trains; the receipt of the equipment for the SGR operations is ongoing in different phases,” TRC said in a statement.
“The newly arrived equipment will continue to undergo testing for assurance before commencing provision of service.”
READ: Tanzania bidding for SGR trains
Transport Economy
Bank of Tanzania (BOT) data from the current account show that Tanzania’s service economy consists almost entirely of transport and travel. Travel is normally referred to as tourism, but the two are so closely linked that they are referred to interchangeably.
In addition, travel and transport sectors are also tightly linked. In the year ending August 2021 Tanzania earned $2.4 billion from transport and travel, according to the monthly economic review of the BOT.
with the numbers pivoted towards Tanzania’s favor, the SGR comes as an additional tool and an important one facilitating economic growth.
Transport and logistic sector enable nations such as Tanzania to enter the global competitive base. The entrant of SR into the mix coupled by aviation improvement stand to put Tanzania on a map.
Extending SGR to Burundi
The SGR project isn’t ending in Tanzania only, Burundi is in talks with the latter on technical aspects of construction the modern railway after securing funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
According to a report by the Citizen, Tanzania’s Finance Minister Mwigulu Nchemba held back-to-back meetings with representatives from the AfDB and the Burundi government last week, the first high-level discussions since Tanzania signed a $91.76 million agreement with the pan-African lender on February 23 to fast-track the project, whose launch has been delayed for over two years due to lack of financing.
According to a Tanzania Railway Corporation public notice issued back in August 2022, the project will be supervised jointly with their Burundi counterparts, ARTF, but all related procurement will be handled by Tanzania.
The project is aimed at extending Tanzania’s SGR, which is at various stages of construction, to Burundi and later the DR Congo with $696.41 million financing package approved by the AfDB in December 2023.
Inter-regional connectivity is key across the EAC bloc as Burundi expects to use the rail link to transport at least three million tonnes of minerals per year from Musongati, estimated to hold the 10th largest nickel deposits in the world at 150 million tonnes plus other minerals such as cobalt and copper, to Dar es Salaam port along with around one million tonnes of other cargo.
The Citizen report indicated that, at least 80 percent of Burundi’s import and export cargo is currently shipped through the port of Dar es Salaam, according to Tanzania Ports Authority figures.
The Tanzania-Burundi SGR link is also envisaged to stimulate agricultural exchange activity and transit trade in general between the two countries through the central corridor while further easing cross-border movements within the East African Community bloc following the entry of DR Congo in mid-2022.
Negotiations for additional SGR links from Tanzania to Rwanda and Uganda are still ongoing.
READ:Kenya, Uganda in talks on SGR extension financing
