Two Chinese companies to construct Tanzania’s fifth lot of SGR

Dar es Salaam. Two Chinese companies have won a tender to construct Tanzania’s fifth lot of the Standard Gauge Railway from Mwanza to Isaka covering a distance of 341 kilometers.

This was said by Tanzania’s foreign minister Prof Palamagamba Kabudi at news briefing in Chato on the eve of the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s two-day visit to Tanzania.

According to him the construction which will cost Sh3 trillion will be handled by China Civil Engineering Construction (CCEC) and China Railway Construction Company (CRCC).

The government through the Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC) is constructing a 2,561-kilometer SGR network that links Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kigoma, Katavi and neighboring countries of Rwanda, Burundi Uganda and DRC.

 The over Sh7 trillion project is being implemented in phases with the first round covering 202km between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro, was initially scheduled to be ready by November 2020 but heavy rains disrupted construction works.

Construction of the first and the second phase is being undertaken by Turkish construction company, Yapi Markez.

The first phase will have six main stations at Dar es Salaam, Pugu, Soga, Ruvu, Ngerengere and Morogoro, with the Dar es Salaam and Morogoro stations being the largest.

The second phase which is under implementation involves 422km between Morogoro and Makutupora in Singida with the project set to be completed within 36 months at a cost of $1,924 billion.

The railway is East Africa’s fastest and will use electricity to move trains will travel at 160km per hour and transport 10,000 tonnes of freight which is equivalent to 500 cargo trucks.

Upon completion, the SGR project is expected to payback the investment value after 15 years.

In October 2020, Tanzania government signed $60 million (about Sh138 billion) contract with a South Korean firm to supply trains for the standard gauge railway (SGR).