Chinese ready to overhaul rail line

Dar es Salaam. A China construction company is willing to overhaul the central railway line, says a statement

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), which also built a 1,860km Tanzania-Zambia railway from 1970-1976 told Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda who is China that they are ready for the job and they waiting for the green light from the government of Tanzania.

CCECC president Yuan Li told Pinda that China was talking to the ministry of Transport over the matter.

Mr Yuan expects that the two parties would agree on the matter.

Mr Pinda said the overhaul would reduce a burden of damaged roads as a result of a big bulk of heavy loads being transported by trucks after the collapse of the railway line decade ago.

“When the reconstruction is done it will also opened more doors for economic opportunities. It will boost trade with Rwanda, Burundi and DRC and we can even transport Ugandan cargo via Mwanza,” he said.

Mr Yuan also said the construction would be done in phases to allow other operations to take place. “We can’t overhaul it at ago, it’s very expensive. The first phase I think should be from the port of Dar es Salaam to Morogoro, the second from Morogoro to Dodoma and the rest will follow,” he said.

He also told Pinda that they company was constructing a railway line from South Sudan to Djibouti via Ethiopia courtesy of a loan from Chinese Exim Bank, and they are expecting to finalise the construction after two years.