The first trial of the Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro will begin in July this year. This was revealed by the East African country’s Government through its Chief Spokesperson Gerson Msigwa.
The trials were initially expected to begin in May of this year. However, according to Msigwa, this was not achieved due to “the difficulties the locomotive manufacturer experienced such as receiving spare parts from Canada.”
The government’s chief spokesperson’s father explained that the delay in receiving the spare parts was caused by a variety of reasons. These reasons include the global economic crisis caused by Covid-19 and the war between Ukraine and Russia.
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Nevertheless, Mr Msigwa said that the locomotive will now arrive in July this year and the first tests of the SGR train will take place that same month. The spokesperson said that 14 out of the 59 wagons manufactured in Korea have already arrived in the country. The rest he said are on their way.
Six of the 30 German wagons on the other hand have been modified by 85 per cent and they are scheduled to arrive in the country by the second or the third of June 2023.
Ongoing work on the Tanzania SGR project
Meanwhile, the government will continue construction of the 1219km SGR from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza.
While work on the 300km Dar es Salaam-Morogoro and the 422km Morogoro-Makutupora section is 98.14% and 93.88% complete respectively, the 368km Makutupora-Tabora and the 165km Tabora-Isaka section is only 7% and 2.39% complete in that order. Lastly, work on the final 341km section from Isaka-Mwanza is 31.07% complete.
The government will also proceed with the 506km second phase of the SGR from Tabora to Kigoma. The construction contract for this phase has been signed and the contractor is currently preparing to mobilize and begin the actual work.
The government is also seeking to fast-track the development of new sections from Dodoma to Kigoma, from Uvinza to Burundi, and to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). TANZANIA’S Ministry of Construction and Transport has thus asked parliament to approve $US 1.47bn+ for the implementation of infrastructure projects. 1.13 trillion of these monies will fund the construction of the aforementioned sections.
