Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (abbreviated CFM; in English Mozambique Ports and Railways) is a state-owned company that oversees the railway system of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

and its connected ports. The rail system is composed of a total of 2,983 km rail of the gauge that is compatible with neighboring rail systems. In addition there is a 140 km line of gauge, the

Gaza Railway The Gaza Railway is a narrow gauge railway operating in southern Mozambique from Xai-Xai (former Villa de João Belo) via Manjacaze junction (53 km) with branches to Chicomo (37 km) and Mauela (50 km). It was constructed in the e ...

. The system developed over more than a century from three different ports at the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

that serve as terminals for separate lines to the hinterland. The railroads were major targets during the

Mozambican Civil War The Mozambican Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Moçambicana) was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992. Like many regional African conflicts during the late twentieth century, the Mozambican Civil War possessed local dynamics but was a ...

, were sabotaged by

RENAMO RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents oppose ...

, and are being rehabilitated. Management has been largely outsourced. At this time there is no directly interconnecting rail service between the three lines. Each line has its own development corridor. In August 2010, Mozambique and

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a 1,100 km railway through

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, to carry coal from

Serule Serule is a village in Central District of Botswana. Serule, with a latitude of -21.95 (21° 56' 60 S) and a longitude of 27.3 (27° 18' 0 E), is a streets, highways, roads, or railroad (railroad siding). The village is located along the road ...

in Botswana to a deepwater port at Techobanine Point in Mozambique.

Nacala railroad / CFM Norte

The seaport of

Nacala Nacala, also known as Cidade de Nacala or Nacala-Porto is a city on the northern coast of Mozambique. Located in the southwestern indentation of inner Fernao Veloso Bay, it is the deepest natural port on the east coast of Africa. Nacala serves as ...

is the terminal of the Nacala railway, the most recent addition to the railway system. Construction of the railway began in 1915 at the port of

Lumbo Lumbo is a port on the northeast Indian Ocean coast of Mozambique. It is part of the Island of Mozambique District in Nampula Province. It was served by a branch of the main northern line of the national Mozambique railway system which also serv ...

, but money ran out and construction stalled at

Monapo Monapo is a town in northern Mozambique. Transport It is a junction station on the Nacala Railway. See also * Railway stations in Mozambique Railway stations in Mozambique include: Towns served by railways (The lines do not all connect ...

. When construction resumed, and it was decided that Nacala should be the seaport terminus and a branch was built between Monapo and Nacala. By 1932 the railway reached 350 km from Nacala to Mutivasse, and by 1950 it extended to Nova Freixo (present-day

Cuamba Cuamba is a city and district of Niassa Province in Mozambique, lying north west of Mount Namuli. Before independence the town was known as ''Nova Freixo'' (New Ash). It lies on the EN8 road, which connects it to the city of Nampula in the east ...

), 538 km from Nacala. An additional 46 km were constructed northwestwards to Vila Cabral (present-day

Lichinga Lichinga is the capital city of Niassa Province of Mozambique. It lies on the Lichinga Plateau at an altitude of , east of Lake Niassa (Lake Malawi). The town was founded as Vila Cabral as a farming and military settlement. It is served by Lich ...

). In 1970, the government of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

completed a link between Nova Freixo and

Nkaya Nkaya, also known as Nacaia, is a town in Malawi, located in the district of Balaka and in the Southern Region of the country. Its economy is predominantly agricultural, but it has an important logistics sector, as it serves as the junction point ...

Junction in Malawi, where it connected to Malawi Railways' main north-south railway line. The Nacala line was a longer but more direct route from Malawi to the sea than the older Sena line to Beira, and most Malawian freight traffic shifted to the Nacala line. The line was closed in 1984, when RENAMO rebels blew up a portion of the line during the

. The Mozambican government began rehabilitation of the line in November 2005. The railway system is operated by Northern Development Corridor.

Vale A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipali ...

bought a stake in the operator in 2010 and planned a new link from

Moatize Moatize is the principal town and administrative center of Moatize District in western Mozambique, Mozambique's Tete Province. It is located on the eastern side of the Zambezi River at the confluence of the Moatize and Revúboé River, Revuboe Riv ...

, where Vale has coal mines, east to Nkaya Junction, connecting there to the existing line to Nacala. It was constructed as the

Nacala Logistics Corridor The Nacala Logistics Corridor is a logistical mega-enterprise for connecting areas in Southeast Africa, which includes the creation and management of railways, highways, ports and airports, which directly serve Mozambique and Malawi, and indirectly ...

, and was completed in 2017. The project included a coal export terminal and coal storage yard at the port of

Nacala-a-Velha Nacala-a-Velha, is a town on the northern coast of Mozambique. It is located on the western shore of inner Fernao Veloso Bay, opposite the city of Nacala. Nacala-a-Velha is the site of a large marine coal terminal which opened in January 2016. Th ...

Beira railroad / CFM Centro

Beira is the terminal of the Beira railroad, the oldest railway system of Mozambique. Its Machipanda line goes to

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

and was opened in 1899 as link to then

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

, now

, and its transits. The Sena line of the Beira railroad connects to the coal fields of

with the potential to link to the railway of Malawi as well as to

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. As the Beira Railroad Corporation (CCFB) the Beira railway is leased from CFM to the Indian RITES Ltd. and

Ircon International Ircon International, or Indian Railway Construction Limited (IRCON), is an Indian engineering & construction corporation, specialized in transport infrastructure. The public sector undertaking was established in 1976, by the Indian Railways und ...

consortium.

Maputo railroad / CFM Sul

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

, formerly Lourenço Marques, and

Matola Matola is the largest suburb of the Mozambique capital, Maputo, adjacent to its westernmost side. It is the nation's second most populated city. Matola is the capital of Maputo Province and has had its own elected municipal government since 1998 ...

are the terminals of the Maputo line that links to north-eastern part of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Like the ''Ressano Garcia Railway Company'', the Pretoria-Maputo line is managed by the NLBP (New Limpopo Bridge Project Investments) together with

Transnet Freight Rail Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...

and CPM with the aim to rehabilitate and operate the line to the border of South Africa.Port of Maputo
In South Africa the link goes to

Komatipoort Komatipoort is a town situated at the confluence of the Crocodile and Komati Rivers in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The town is 8 km from the Crocodile Bridge Gate into the Kruger Park, and just 5 km from the Mozambique border and ...

and further to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. The Maputo line also links to

Eswatini Railways Eswatini Railways (ESR), formerly known as Swaziland Railway or Swazi Rail, is the national railway corporation of Eswatini. Overview As in the rest of Southern Africa, the rail system of Eswatini is built to the narrow Cape gauge of . ESR pr ...

and the

National Railways of Zimbabwe The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), formerly Rhodesia Railways, is a state-owned company in Zimbabwe that operates the country's national railway system. It is headquartered in the city of Bulawayo. In addition to the headquarters, it has ...

Rail links to adjacent countries

Nacala railway Nacala railway, also known as Northern Corridor railway and Nacala Corridor railway, is a railway line that operates in northern Mozambique on a lineGarcia, Ana.; Kato, Karina.Politicas Públicas e Interesses Privadas: uma análise a partir do Cor ...

in operation; link to Sena Line *

yes - same gauge - -

Pretoria–Maputo railway Pretoria–Maputo railway, also called Delagoa Bay railway, Iron railway and Eastern railway, is a railway that connects the city of Maputo, Mozambique, to the city of Pretoria, in South Africa. It is 567 km long, in 1067 mm gauge.

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

yes - same gauge - -

Goba railway Goba railway, also called Swaziland-Maputo railway and Matsapha-Maputo railway, is a railway that connects the city of Maputo, Mozambique, to the city from Matsapha, in Eswatini. It is 466.8 km long, in a 1067 mm gauge.Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

no direct link -

break of gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...

- / *

no direct link,

passes first through Malawi. *

yes - same gauge - , from Beira (

Beira–Bulawayo railway Beira-Bulawayo railway, also called Machipanda railway, Beira-Harare-Bulawayo railway and Beira railway, is a railway that connects the city of Beira, Mozambique, to the city of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. It is 850 km long, in a 1067 mm gauge.

) and from

(

Limpopo railway Limpopo Railway, also called Gweru-Maputo railway, is a railway that connects the city of Maputo, Mozambique, to the city from Somabhula, in Zimbabwe. It is 900 km long, in a 1067 mm gauge.

)

References

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De haven van Lourenco Marques aan de oostkust van Afrika TMnr 60036361

Notes

External links

CFM Home page

UN Map

''

Railway Gazette International ''Railway Gazette International'' is a monthly business magazine and news website covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Available by annual subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by transport p ...

'' June 2004 {{Authority control Railway companies of Mozambique Transport in Mozambique Water transport in Mozambique 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Mozambique