PROJECT # 0021

Tanzania - Mtwara Corridor: Construction of a Railway Line From Mtwara to Mbamba Bay via Songea with Spurs to Linganga and Mchuchuma

The project consists in the construction of Standard Gauge railway from Mtwara to Mbamba Bay railway (438 km long and 1.435 metres wide) with spurs to Mchuchuma (coal mines) and Liganga iron ore deposits (south west Tanzania). The main objective is to promote sustainable transport along the Mtwara corridor, through the construction of a new railway line and with spurs, and ultimately unlock the Southern Tanzania Agricultural and mineral rich areas. The railway line will work together with existing ports as well as planned ones in an intend to address the transport challenges along the Mtwara Corridor connecting the southern part of Tanzania with Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique through Lake Nyasa. Comoros, D.R. Congo and South Africa may also benefit through this project as part of the Mtwara Development Corridor Initiatives (Chingola Jimbe Rail Link Project).

The envisaged construction of rail is planned to be standard gauge with 120 pounds rails and concrete sleepers with a design speed of 160 km/hr for passenger rail and 120 km/hr for freight train. The project period is estimated at 2 years of construction and 35 years of operations. The projects is supported by the AU’s Project for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).