Railways In Malawi
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Malawi Railways was a government corporation that ran the national rail network of Malawi, Africa, until privatisation in 1999. With effect from 1 December 1999, the Central East African Railways consortium led by Railroad Development Corporation won the right to operate the network. This was the first rail privatisation in Africa which did not involve a parastatal operator.


History

Upon achieving independence in 1964, Malawi, which had previously been the British protectorate of Nyasaland, inherited a network of three railways. They were the
Shire Highlands Railway The Shire Highlands Railway Company Ltd was a private railway company in colonial Nyasaland, incorporated in 1895 with the intention of constructing a railway from Blantyre (in modern-day Malawi) to the effective head of navigation of the Shire Ri ...
from Salima, on Lake Malawi, via Blantyre to Port Herald (now
Nsanje Nsanje (formerly Port Herald) is the main city in Nsanje District within the Southern Region of Malawi. The intense urbanization in the fertile Shire River valley has formed an extensive urbanized zone that runs from the city of Bangula, furth ...
) on the Shire River; the Central African Railway from Port Herald to Vila Fontes (now Caia), in Portuguese Mozambique; and the Trans-Zambezia Railway, from Vila Fontes to Beira, also in Portuguese Mozambique. The network was run as a single, integrated Malawian system, even though the Trans-Zambezia Railway was located entirely on foreign territory. All of these lines were narrow gauge and single track, and the Shire Highlands Railway in particular had sharp curves and steep gradients, so the system was inadequate for heavy train loads. Maintenance costs were high and freight volumes were low, so freight rates were up to three times those of Rhodesian and East African lines. Although costly and inefficient, the rail link to Beira remained a main bulk transport link until 1979 when it was destroyed by RENAMO forces in the civil war. By then, Malawi had its second rail link to the Mozambique port of Nacala, which is its principal route for imports and exports today. From 1974 to 1979, Malawi worked with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) sponsored to build of new track from Salima to Lilongwe though the Malawi-Canada Railway Project.


Present day overview

The gauge line extends from the Zambian border at
Mchinji Mchinji is a town and the capital of the Mchinji District in the Central Region of Malawi. Mchinji Boma, located from the Zambian border and from the national capital, Lilongwe, is the major hub of government and general business. It has a m ...
in the west via
Lilongwe Lilongwe (, , ) is the capital and most populated city of the African country of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020 that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in th ...
to Blantyre and Makhanga in the south. At
Nkaya Junction 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 ...
it links with the Nacala line going east via Nayuchi to Mozambique's deepwater port at Nacala on the Indian Ocean. The link south from Makhanga to Mozambique's Beira corridor has been closed since the
Mozambique 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 ...
, with plans for reconstruction not yet realised. An extension from
Mchinji Mchinji is a town and the capital of the Mchinji District in the Central Region of Malawi. Mchinji Boma, located from the Zambian border and from the national capital, Lilongwe, is the major hub of government and general business. It has a m ...
to
Chipata The city of Chipata is the administrative centre of the Eastern Province of Zambia and Chipata District. It was declared the 5th city of the country, after Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe and Livingstone, by President Edgar Lungu on 24 February 2017. The c ...
in Zambia opened in 2010, and there is a proposal to eventually link up from there with the TAZARA railway at Mpika. Freight traffic is predominantly exports through Nacala, including sugar, tobacco, pigeon peas and tea. Import traffic consists of fertiliser, fuel, containerised consumer goods and food products including vegetable oil and grain. A government subsidised passenger rail service operates twice weekly from Blantyre to the border with Mozambique at
Nayuchi Nayuchi is a town located in Machinga District in Malawi. Serving as a border post for road and rail control between Malawi and Mozambique. The Rivirivi Bridge was damaged by
Cyclone Delfina Severe Tropical Storm Delfina was a damaging tropical cyclone that affected southeastern Africa in January 2003. The fourth tropical cyclone naming, named storm of the 2002–03 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Delfina formed off the northw ...
in January 2003 and reopened in 2005. Nacala Port and Railway was concessioned to the same CEAR consortium in January 2005. In July 2006, the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
( Taiwan) sent 4 R20 series ( EMD G12) diesel electric locomotives R56, R57, R58 and R59 to Malawi Railways. Two of them are used as
shunters A switcher locomotive (American English), shunter locomotive (British English), or shifter locomotive ( Pennsylvania Railroad terminology) is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distances. Switchers do not usually mov ...
and the other two have never been used.


See also

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Rail transport in Malawi Malawi Railways is the national rail network in Malawi, run by a government corporation until privatisation in 1999. As of 1 December 1999 the Central East African Railways, a consortium led by Railroad Development Corporation, won the right to op ...
*
Railway stations in Malawi Malawi Railways is the national rail network in Malawi, run by a government corporation until privatisation in 1999. As of 1 December 1999 the Central East African Railways, a consortium led by Railroad Development Corporation, won the right to o ...
*
Transport in Malawi Transportation in Malawi is poorly developed. The country of almost 14 million has 39 airports, 6 with paved runways and 33 with unpaved runways. It has of railways, all narrow-gauge and about 45 percent of its roads are paved. Though it is la ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

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External links


Central East African Railways

Malawian Railways 1970-74
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