A new electrified commuter railway in Tanzania meant to modernise travel in the traffic-plagued country made its inaugural journey between the commercial hub Dar es Salaam and the capital Dodoma on Thursday.
Built by a Turkish company, the 440-kilometre (273-mile) line is part of a 2,561-kilometre Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) network expected to connect the north and west of the country to Dar es Salaam, an Indian Ocean port city.
The air-conditioned carriages from South Korea with built-in wifi have already developed a fan club among travellers weary of the ramshackle, diesel-spewing buses that dominate public transport in the nation of nearly 62 million people.
“We have come a long way to have this service,” Ruben Mtaita said as he departed Dar es Salaam. “We are making history.”
A first line connecting the eastern Morogoro region to Dar es Salaam, some 200 kilometres apart, was launched last month, also built by Turkey’s Yapi Merkezi.
Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC) said it will operate daily trips between Dodoma and Dar es Salaam, cutting the usual lengthy bus trip by more than half to around three-and-a-half hours.
Analysts said the rail system is expected to provide a safe and reliable option to Tanzania’s rising population, while cutting carbon emissions and curbing noise and air pollution.
Abel Kinyondo, a lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, described the railway as “the green way to conserve the environment by cutting vehicle-led pollution”.
The project in one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies is the cornerstone of a transformation plan by President Samia Suluhu Hassan ahead of national elections next year.
– ‘Facilitate cross-border trade’ –
“We have waited for this service for a long time but finally we are starting. For us, this is a milestone,” TRC head Masanja Kadogosa told reporters.
“Both business and regular classes are full and, in fact, many people missed tickets,” he added.
The frequency will be bumped up depending on demand, the state-owned agency said.
“It is my hope that the electric train will cut the number of buses playing the same route,” said Donald Mmari, executive director of the Tanzanian poverty alleviation research think-tank, REPOA.
Zakaria Nundi, who was travelling with eight other people on the debut trip from Dar to Dodoma, expressed cautious optimism: “I hope the train will be reliable”.
Tanzania’s railway system has two existing networks, one linking the East African nation to Zambia and the other to Kenya and Uganda.
In December 2022, Tanzania signed a $2.2-billion contract with a Chinese company to build the final section of the SGR line aimed at linking the country’s main port with its neighbours.
“Upon completion of the SGR, Tanzania will be in a better position to utilise its strategic geographical positioning to facilitate cross-border trade,” Hassan said at the time.
The project, due to be completed in 2026, nine years after it began, will eventually have spurs to Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
Tanzania’s investment in the SGR had now reached around $10 billion, including the latest contract, she said.
China is the biggest investor in Africa, pumping billions of dollars into infrastructure projects such as railroads, ports and airports in exchange for securing oil and commodity supplies such as copper and cobalt.