Tanzania government to buy locomotives for SGR project

Dar es Salaam. The government is finalising procurement of two locomotives, eight compartments and wagons that will ply the Dar es Salaam-Morogoro section of the Standard Gauge Railway line (SGR).
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications, Dr Leonard Chamuriho, said yesterday that the actual construction of the first phase of the SGR which covers Dar es Salaam and Morogoro has reached 77 percent and will be completed this year.
The construction work from Morogoro to Makutupora has been completed by 30 percent.“We expect the construction work from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro to be completed anytime from June, but we project the work will be fully completed by the end of this year” he said.
In another development, a senior officer with the Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC), who asked for anonymity, said they plan to start formal testing of the new engines soon.
According to him, the project contractor is in the process of procuring testing trains that are expected to arrive anytime to continue with the work.
He could not reveal the budget allocated to the purchase, saying it was too early to reveal the figures. He promised the amount will soon be made public.
The first phase of the SGR project from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro covers 300 kilometres.It was initially scheduled to be ready last November but heavy rains disrupted the works.
The meteorological department had issued a warning of heavy rainfall expected in March and April.The first deadline was missed when the drilling works for a tunnel near Morogoro, building of bridges and placement of culverts were paralysed by heavy rains.
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.