TWO Chinese companies, China Civil Engineering Construction (CCEC) and China Railway Construction Company (CRCC), have won a tender to construct phase 5 of the Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Isaka to Mwanza. According Tanzania’s foreign minister Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, the 341km section will cost $1.3bn.
The government through the Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC) is constructing a 2,561-kilometre SGR network that links Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kigoma, Katavi and neighboring countries of Rwanda, Burundi Uganda and DRC.
Completion of phase 1
The project is being implemented in phases with the first round covering 202km between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro. In late November, Tanzania Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa announced that phase 1 of the SGR from Dar es Salaam–Morogoro was 90 percent complete and was on course for completion within the agreed time limits. What remained for the Morogoro SGR station is the installation of electricity transmission lines. According to the PM, the rail service will begin next April.
The modern Morogoro SGR station will be able to handle 800 passengers a day, parking more than 150 cars and motorcycles, while offering auxiliary services. When complete the first phase will halve the travelling time from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro from three hours to one and a half hours.
In late December, it was announced that the construction of a 220 kV, main power transmission line for the SGR train, Dar es Salaam-Morogoro segment, is almost complete with the project reaching 99 percent. The transmission line covers a total of 159km from the main Kinyerezi centre to Morogoro Region.
Meanwhile, plans for the second phase project, a 420km power transmission line with 220 kV from Morogoro to Makutupora in Singida region is on course.
Construction of the first and the second phase is being undertaken by Turkish construction company, Yapi Markez.
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