Rail transport in Tanzania is conducted by two companies ( Tanzania Railways Corporation and

TAZARA The Tazara Railway, also called the Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway, is a railway in East Africa linking the port of Dar es Salaam in east Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province. The single-track railway is ...

). It has historically used narrow gauge trackage, but planning and construction of new standard gauge lines is underway as of 2017.

Railway links with adjacent countries

* Burundi - no - proposed * DR Congo - decades ago there was a

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ...

between

Kigoma Kigoma is a city and lake port in Kigoma-Ujiji District in Tanzania, on the northeastern shores of Lake Tanganyika and close to the border with Burundi and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. It serves as the capital for the surrounding Kigoma R ...

and

Kalemie Kalemie, formerly Albertville or Albertstad, is a town on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town is next to the outflow of the Lukuga River from Lake Tanganyika to the Lualaba River. History From 18 ...

, in 2007 there are no ferry links and the DR Congo line to Kalemie is defunct because of a collapsed bridge.

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 ...

: / *

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

- yes - same gauge, but the link between Moshi and Voi has not been operated for many years. *

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 northeas ...

- no -

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 ...

/ *

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 ...

- no -

/ * Rwanda - no - proposed Railways Africa – STANDARD GAUGE FOR RWANDA
/ref> *

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

- yes - same gauge - via

from Mwanza to

Port Bell A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

or Jinja. *

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

- yes - break of gauge / The central line between

and Dar es Salaam carries international freight and passengers in transit from Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda to 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 t ...

, and the branch from

Tabora Tabora is the capital of Tanzania's Tabora Region and is classified as a municipality by the Tanzanian government. It is also the administrative seat of Tabora Urban District. According to the 2012 census, the district had a population of 226,999. ...

Mwanza Mwanza City, also known as Rock City to the residents, is a port city and capital of Mwanza Region on the southern shore of Lake Victoria in north-western Tanzania. With an urban population of 1,182,000 in 2021, it is Tanzania's second largest c ...

carries freight and passengers between

and the Indian Ocean. →

Standard gauge development

On 31 March 2015 the Tanzanian government announced it would use $14.2 billion of commercial loans to build new rail infrastructure across the country before 2021, and make the country a regional transport hub.African Markets - Factors to watch on March 31, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/africa-factors-idUSL6N0WX0EG20150331 In June,

China Railway Materials China Railway Materials Commercial Corp. (CRMCC, ) is a state-owned company of China, under the supervision of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. The predecessor of the group was the Materials Admin ...

was awarded a $7.6 billion contract, primarily funded by commercial financing, to build new standard gauge lines connecting Dar es Salaam with Burundi and Rwanda. A separate $1.4 billion contract was awarded to China Railway Engineering Corporation to build a line between mines near Ludewa and the port of

Mtwara Mtwara ( Portuguese: ''Montewara'') is the capital city of Mtwara Region in southeastern Tanzania. In the 1940s, it was planned and constructed as the export facility for the disastrous Tanganyika groundnut scheme, but was somewhat neglected whe ...

. Both Chinese contracts were terminated by President

John Magufuli John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (29 October 1959 – 17 March 2021) was the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021. He served as Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from 2000 to 2005 and 2010 to 2015 and w ...

when he took office in November 2015. In February 2017, construction companies Yapı Merkezi and

Mota-Engil Mota-Engil is a Portuguese group in the sectors of civil construction, public works, port operations, waste, water, and logistics. The chairman of the board of directors is António Mota and Gonçalo Moura Martins is the company's CEO. Jorge Co ...

were jointly awarded a contract to build of track between Dar es Salaam and

Morogoro Morogoro is a city in the eastern part of Tanzania west of Dar es Salaam. Morogoro is the capital of the Morogoro Region. It is also known informally as "Mji kasoro bahari" which translates to “city short of an ocean/port." The Belgian based ...

, and a line connecting

Isaka Isaka is a small town and station on the narrow-gauge Mwanza railway line of Tanzania which connects to the seaport of Dar es Salaam. Transport It is located in Kahama Rural District of Shinyanga Region. In the 1980s a dry port was establ ...

with Burundi and Rwanda. Construction of the Dar es Salaam–Morogoro line began in April, with service expected to begin in 2019. The new line is designed to allow passenger services to travel at up to and freight services at up to . Tanzania plans to extend the line to Dodoma, and later to

and Mwanza, contingent on obtaining financing.

Maps

UN map
* Interactive map of Tanzania railways

References

Notes

External links

Tansania railway stations
{{Africa in topic, Rail transport in