According to the TRC officials, the construction of the 300-kilometers Dar-es Salaam-Morogoro Tanzania SGR section has attained 98% completion status. Currently, it still remains unknown whether the Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway will kick off its operations despite the completion of setting up key infrastructure parts on the Dar es Salaam-Morogoro part. According to the director general of Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC), Mr Masanja Kadogosa, the wagons for the train have already been received at the Dar es Salaamport and are yet to be offloaded from the cargo ship by this month. However, the general director did not point out the exact date when the SGR operations were to start.
Moreover, the communication manager of TRC, Ms Jamila Mbarouk, spoke to The Citizen and stated that the Tanzania SGR stretch that runs all the way from Mororgoro to Makutupora had attained 94% completion status.
Also read: $3.24 Billion to be Invested in Tanzania SGR Construction by Spain
Tanzania SGR Fare Rates
During the previous year, TRC had set fare proposals of Sh24, 794 for children and the adults would pay Sh59, 494 for a single trip when travelling from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma using the Tanzania SGR. However, these rates were opposed vehemently by the consumers i.e. passengers in a meeting that was arranged by the Land Transport Regulatory Authority (Latra) in the month of December last year. The acting executive secretary of the Consumer Consultative Council (CCC), Leo Ngowi suggested that it was a responsibility of TRC to establish reasonable fare rates so that the SGR project does not end up becoming a “white elephant”.
Currently, there is an SGR locomotive at the port of Dar es Salaam that is yet to be offloaded. As for now the Tanzania SGR project has received a total of 40 train wagons that will be utilized for transport services. Infrastructure located along the SGR have been put in place for example a control center has been set up at a Tanzanite station. The equipment set are inclusive of communication equipment which will be useful in giving signals to the train while moving.
