TAZARA capacity to be raised

[John Ashworth]

TAZARA: CAPACITY TO BE RAISED

Posted on 17 July 2009 by Railways Africa Editor

The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) has embarked on an ambitious programme to boost its haulage capacity to tap into freight cargo destined for the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Zambia, the Citizen (published in Dar-es-Salaam) reports. 

“To work closely with the Tanzania Ports Authority and Ticts, the railway network hopes to capture freight landing at the Dar-es-Salaam Port for haulage to the landlocked countries.

“This was revealed yesterday by Tazara deputy managing director Damas Ndumbaro, during a press conference called to commemorate 33 years of service by the railway authority since its inception on 1 July 1976: ‘When Tazara took off, it had a total of 100 locomotives, but currently there are only 22. We intend to boost our capacity by repairing defective ones. The strategic plan for the entity includes reviving six defective locomotives, at least one each year, at the cost of $US4.8 million,’ he explained. 

“The move, he explained, is in line with the government’s efforts to reduce congestion at the port. Currently, the flow of goods from the port to inland destinations is done mainly by trucks, which cater for over 93% of cargo. The remaining 7% is done by rail. Yet one train has the capacity to haul an equivalent of 60-truck load.

“Also in the pipeline, is a plan to have a special train to ferry soccer fans to the World Cup matches in South Africa next year via Zambia, during the whole period of the soccer event.

“He said the authority’s management has reduced transit time to four days, while turn-around time (the time it takes a train complete a circuit from Dar to Capri Point), has gone down to 14 days from 20. Presently, we do not depend on any of the two governments for subsidy to run the network. We now spend own funds,’ Ndumbaro stated.

“The entity takes in an average of $3 million per month, which is adequate to pay both workers salaries’ and fund Tazara’s development programmes.”