Tanzania – Zambia Railway

Tanzania – Zambia Railway
legal form	State company
founding	1976
Seat	Mpika
Branch	Transport / logistics
Website	www.tazara.co.tz

Dar es Salaam – Kapiri Mposhi
TAZARA locomotive
Route length:	1863.1 km
Gauge :	1067 mm ( cape track )
Legend 0.0 Dar es Salaam 1.9 Connection to Dar es Salaam port 3.0 Yombo 18.1 Mwakanga 28.7 Vigama 33.7 Kazimzumbwi stop 42.0 Kifuru 64.7 Chakenge halt 70.6 Mzenga 89.8 Nyani stop 103.0 Gwata 130.8 Kidunda 161.8 Kinyanguru 191.2 Fugue 199.3 Metambwe stop 217.0 Kisaki 247.1 Lumango 274.8 Pwaga 0.0 305.5 Msolwa 24.1 Kidatu (TAZARA) 109.5 Kidatu ( RITES ) meter gauge 315.3 Katulukilla 321.2 Mang'ula 331.1 Kiberege 342.5 Siginali stop 360.0 Ifakara 378.7 Idete stop 394.1 Ruipa 412.5 Mbingu 430.3 Mngeta 447.0 Ikule stop 462.1 Chita 480.3 Chisano stop 496.1 Mlimba 509.1 Lumumwe 521.7 Kimbwe 534.8 Mpanga 555.9 Kitete 569.3 Uchindile 584.3 Mgololo stop 596.7 Kiyowela 621.3 Kitandalila 633.8 Mahongole 651.5 Makambako 671.5 Wanging'mbe 690.6 Kangaga 704.9 Ruyeva 720.7 Msesule 749.4 Chimala 769.4 Igurusi 784.4 Ilongo 800.3 Malamba 810.6 Lumba 822.9 Inyala 832.9 Uyole 848.8 Mbeya 860.1 Mbalizi 872.1 Idiga 890.1 Chikola 915.4 Mlowo 926.2 Vwawa 952.4 Mpemba 969.6 Tunduma Tanzania / Zambia 971.0 Nakonde 982.1 Mwenzo 990.1 Msanza 1008.6 Kawila 1023.7 Luchinde stop 1038.0 Chozi 1056.0 Luchewe 1088.0 Kalulu 1103.0 Makasa 1135.9 Kayaya 1151.0 Chimba 1169.0 Malenge stop 1183.3 Nseluka 1212.8 Kungu 1222.3 Kasama 1264.9 Nkolemfumu 1282.4 Ishitu 1315.4 Chambeshi 1329.5 Mpepo 1358.9 Kasongo 1386.6 Kabuka 1412.0 Sabwa 1424.0 Mpika 1448.1 Chilonga 1469.0 Kapoko 1493.2 Kalonje 1505.8 Salamo 1525.9 Mununga 1535.4 Finkuli 1559.5 Lukulu 1597.7 Luslwasi 1593.5 Canon 1617.0 Chakalamo 1643.8 Kawaluma 1664.2 Serenje 1690.8 Chisangwa 1720.1 Ndabala 1734.9 Mkushi River 1747.6 Nkolonga 1773.0 Mkushi 1792.9 Ngambwa 1817.6 Lunsemfwa 1844.1 Luanshimba 1863.1 New Kapiri Mposhi 1864.6 649.6 Kapiri North Junction to the DR Congo 849.4 Kapiri Mposhi 1 847.4 Kapiri Mposhi 2 to Lusaka and South Africa

The Tanzania – Zambia Railway (short form TAZARA - Ta nzania- Za mbia Ra ilway ), also known as the Tanzam Railway, is a railway line from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Kapiri Mposhi on the Lusaka - Kitwe railway line in Zambia .

history

Railways in Tanzania

The route was designed as an export route for Zambian copper ore from the Copperbelt . For political reasons, the route was financed by the People's Republic of China in order to avoid the only export route via South African ports that existed at the time. This was intended to make Zambia more independent of the then white minority governments in Southern Rhodesia (since 1980 Zimbabwe ) and South Africa . TAZARA started operations in 1976. In 1995, the bilateral Tanzania-Zambia Railway Act passed in 1975 was amended.

Duration

The single-track, non-electrified TAZARA line is around 1863 km long. It is carried out in the Cape Gauge, which is widespread in South Africa, Botswana , Namibia , Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia , which theoretically enables continuous train runs from Dar es Salaam to Cape Town . The result of the decision in favor of the Cape Gauge is that it is not possible for the vehicles to cross over to the otherwise meter-gauge network of the Tanzanian Railways ( Tanzania Railways ). However, in Kidatu , where the two networks touch each other again outside of Dar es Salaam, there is a loading station that is intended for the exchange of goods between the two rail networks.

The TAZARA has different locomotives. These include class SDD 20 diesel locomotives from the Chinese manufacturer CSR Qishuyan , which were delivered in 2012, diesel- electric U30Cs from General Electric , which were built by Friedrich Krupp AG and were delivered in 1982, and CK6 diesel locomotives from CSR Chengdu in China for shunting and short-haul operations. It also owns passenger cars and 1,094 freight cars (as of April 2016).

In 2015, TAZARA received a Chinese loan of US $ 22.4 million. In addition to 18 passenger cars, four more diesel locomotives were acquired from China, increasing the number of locomotives available daily to 16. The average distance covered between two breakdowns was 6,015 kilometers before the new rolling stock was purchased.

The originally used locomotives from Chinese production no longer run today. The permissible axle load is 17 t (for locomotives 20 t). Since the TAZARA partly leads through very mountainous terrain - it crosses the Great African Rift Valley - the connections are often interrupted by landslides in the rainy season.

Route data

• Greatest slope: 2%
• Rail weight: 45 kg / m (similar to DB S49 BS 90A)
• Distance between thresholds: 0.69 m
• Sleeper type: concrete
• Smallest curve radius: 200 m
• Maximum train length: 600 m, 160 axles
• Height above sea level in Dar es Salaam: 14 m, in Kapiri Mposhi: 1275 m, highest point: 1789 m in Uyole Station

organization

The binational operating company is called TZR. It belongs to the states of Tanzania and Zambia jointly, a so-called condominal railway, and is legally independent of the local state railway. She is a member of the UIC . Cabinet members from both Zambia and Tanzania sit equally on the company's supervisory board. The city of Mpika is the seat of the administration in Zambia . There is a depot there .

business

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  TAZARA train station in Ifakara

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  Train arrives at Mbeya station

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  TAZARA train crossing one of the many bridges in the Iringa region

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  Stop between Lusaka and Dar es Salam

Passenger traffic

On the entire route, two passenger trains run in each direction per week, departing Tuesday and Friday, arriving on Thursday and Sunday. The scheduled journey time on the Express (departure on Tuesdays) is around 42 hours. The ordinary (normal train) leaves Dar es Salaam on Fridays at 1:50 p.m. and arrives at the destination New Kapiri Mposhi 48 hours later. Since 2012, commuter trains have been running from the TAZARA train station in Dar es Salaam to Mwakanga and on a branch line to Kurasini on the border of the Dar es Salaam metropolitan area. These trains are used by around 9,000 people every day. There are also special TAZARA trains. The route is used one to three times a year by the South African Pride of Africa luxury train operated by Rovos Rail on the Cape Town – Dar es Salaam route.

The fare for the total distance of the TAZARA rate in April 2016 Ordinary 86,500 Tanzanian shillings (one way in first class), making it far cheaper than about a flight Dar es Salaam-Lusaka. The express train is only slightly more expensive, the 2nd and 3rd class only slightly cheaper than the 1st class. Every year - excluding the commuter traffic in Dar es Salaam - 455,000 passengers travel on the route.

Freight transport

Freight transport is more important than passenger transport, but it is showing a decreasing trend. The branch line to the port of Dar es Salaam does not belong to TAZARA, but to port operations. According to TAZARA, it takes three to four days for goods from the port of Dar es Salaam to reach customers in Zambia. In the first half of 2015, 90,000 tons of freight were transported, after the figure for the whole of 2005 was 630,000 tons.

Others

The route from Dar es Salaam to the next stop in Kisaki runs over a length of around 100 kilometers through the Selous Game Reserve . There is a high probability of seeing giraffes and antelopes, as well as elephants and hippos from the train during daylight journeys. From time to time, the trip from Dar es Salaam to Kisaki and back is offered by a special charter train from a safari company, making it one of the few options for "game drives" by train.

See also

• Rail transport in Tanzania

literature

• Neil Robinson: World Rail Atlas and Historical Summary 7 = North, East ans Central Africa . o. O. 2009, plates 51, 52 and 57, ISBN 978-954-92184-3-5 .

Web links

• Website of the TAZARA (English)
• Seat 61: Rail travel in Zambia and Tanzania (English)
• The lifeblood of the savannah (video), railway romance about the TAZARA

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Legal text from 1995 ( Memento of the original dated August 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English; PDF) 
2. ↑ Information on the TAZARA website , accessed on May 1, 2016
3. ↑ TAZARA website , accessed on May 2, 2016
4. ↑ ^{a b c} TAZARA takes delivery of locos and coaches. railwaygazette.com dated November 11, 2015, accessed May 2, 2016
5. ^ ^{A b} Tanzania-Zambia railway gets $ 22.4 mln Chinese lifeline. af.reuters.com of November 10, 2015 (English), accessed on May 2, 2016
6. ↑ Description of the route at tazarasite.com (English), accessed on May 1, 2016
7. ↑ ^{a b c d} TAZARA Passenger Services (English), accessed on April 30, 2016
8. ↑ Timetables 2014 at fahrplancenter.com , accessed on May 2, 2016
9. ^ "Fares on the TAZARA website (English), accessed on April 30, 2016
10. ↑ Information at tazara.co.uk  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed on May 1, 2016