Rail transport in Tanzania began in the late 19th century.
From about 1880 to 1888, atramway operated inZanzibar, then ruled by the secondSultan of Zanzibar,Barghash bin Said.
In 1905, a second tramway was built, this time by a US company. It lasted until 1930.
The first railway lines inTanganyika, known at the time asGerman East Africa, were built soon after the first tramway in Zanzibar.
In 1891, theEisenbahngesellschaft für Deutsch-Ostafrika (English:Railway Company for German East Africa) was established, with the goal of building a railway fromTanga in Tanganyika to the hinterland. For that, and subsequent, main lines in the German colony, the gauge selected was1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)metre gauge. In addition,light railways were developed for individual Tanganyikansisalplantations innarrower gauges, usually600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) gauge.
The construction of theUsambara Railway, from Tanga to the hinterland, began in 1893. However, the company building that railway went intobankruptcy after two years. At that stage, only 40 km (25 mi) of track had been completed, as far asKorogwe. Thetreasury of the colony then took over the project in 1899. Four years later, in 1903, it issued an Order for further construction. Subsequently, there were other attempts to operate the railway on an economically and juristically stable footing.
In 1904, the smaller railways received a boost. Meanwhile, in Germany, theSigi-Eisenbahngesellschaft (English:Sigi Railway Company) was established, with the objective of constructing one of the narrow gauge railways branching off the Usambara Railway, theSigi-Bahn,[1] in750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) gauge. The same year, 1904, theOstafrikanische Eisenbahngesellschaft (English:East African Railway Company) (OAEG) was formed to promote a railway fromDar es Salaam in the direction ofLake Tanganyika, theZentralbahn (English:Central Line).Kigoma was reached on 2 February 1914, on the eve ofWorld War I. Later in 1914, work began on theRuandabahn,[2] a line fromTabora to the territory that was later to becomeRwanda. This project was thwarted by the outbreak of World War I.
During World War I, German and Allied forces engaged in theEast African Campaign, a series of battles and guerrilla actions which started in German East Africa. Towards the end of 1915, the Allies decided to build a railway fromVoi,Kenya, a station on theUganda Railway, toMaktau, as a supply route for a full-scale invasion of the German colony, including an offensive down the Usambara Railway to Tanga. Subsequently, the line was extended toKahe, a station on the Usambara Railway nearMoshi, Tanganyika. As both the Uganda Railway and the Usambara Railway were metre gauge, the transfer of vehicles from one of these lines to the other thus became readily achievable.
By September 1916, both the Usambara Railway and the Central Line from the coast at Dar es Salaam toUjiji were fully under Allied control.
After the Armistice in 1918, the British occupied Tanganyika was granted to the United Kingdom as aLeague of Nationsmandate. On 1 April 1919, the new colonial administration establishedTanganyika Railways and Port Services as the operator of the railways in the mandated territory.
In 1928, theTabora–Mwanza railway was completed with the assistance of the German pre war preparations for the Ruandabahn. In 1930, the Usambara Railway was extended toArusha. In 1948, a branch line from the Central Line was opened betweenMsagali andHororo, and in 1949/1950 theKaliua–Mpanda line was opened. As early as 1951, the line to Hororo was closed.
In 1948,Tanganyika Railways and Port Services was merged with its counterparts inUganda and Kenya to form theEast African Railways and Harbours Administration (from 1969:East African Railways Corporation).
From 1950, theOverseas Food Corporation established the610 mm (2 ft)Southern Province Railway in the south of Tanganyika. It linked the port ofMikindani with the growing regions for theTanganyika groundnut scheme in the hinterland. Eventually the network reached a total length of more than 250 km (155 mi). In 1952, it was transferred to the East African Railways and Harbours Administration.
In a series of steps between 1961 and 1964, Tanganyika became independent and united with Zanzibar in afederation. Meanwhile, the existing network was expanded. In 1963, a coastal railway was constructed to link the Central and the Usambara Railway, and in 1965 a branch line was opened southwards, fromKilosa, on the Central Line, toKidatu. In 1963, the narrow gauge network in southern Tanganyika was shut down.
From 1964, discussions took place about a proposed railway line between Tanzania andZambia. As Great Britain had not shown any interest in the proposal, thePeople's Republic of China joined in. The PRC government sponsored construction of the railway specifically to eliminate Zambia's economic dependence on Rhodesia and South Africa.[3] The contractual foundations were closed in 1967, and one year later, theTanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA) was established, as a condominial railway[4] owned by Tanzania and Zambia.
The TAZARA was built in3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) which was new for Tanzania, but common in southern Africa. The line was handed over to the company as it was completed in sections in 1973 and 1974. In 1976, a branch line was opened toKidatu, where the metre gauge branch line from the Central Line ends.
In 1977, in light of the different policies and widening standards of economic development in its participating countries, theEast African Union broke up, and all of its joint structures were also dissolved. The Tanzanian Railways - except the TAZARA - was reorganised asTanzania Railways Corporation (TRC). Economically, the network then went constantly downhill, due to increasing road traffic, corruption and political neglect. A number of rail links, such as between Arusha and Moshi, were shut down, and passenger services abandoned, including on the Usambara Railway.
The TAZARA has been a major economic conduit in the region. However, it has never been profitable and more recently it has suffered from competition from road transport (such as theTrans–Caprivi Highway and Walvis Bay Corridor toNamibia) and the re-orientation of Zambia's economic links towards South Africa after the end of apartheid.[5] As of October 2008, a Tanzanian newspaper described the TAZARA's condition as being "on the verge of collapse due to financial crisis", with the operator being three months late on paying worker's wages and most of its 12 locomotives being out of service.[6] At the beginning of 2010 the Chinese government gave the financially crippled operator a US$39 million interest-free loan to revive its operations.[7][8]
Meanwhile, in 2007RITES Ltd. ofIndia won a contract from Tanzania's Parastatal Sector Reform Commission (PSRC) to operate the TRC's passenger and freight services on a concession basis for 25 years.[9] The concession agreement was signed on 3 September 2007, and began on 1 October 2007. The services previously operated by the TRC were run as Tanzania Railway Ltd, with the government owning a 49% stake.[10] However, in 2010 the government terminated the agreement and resumed control.[11]
Media related toRail transport in Tanzania at Wikimedia Commons
