The Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) is a

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

that runs one of

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 ...

's two main railway networks. When the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation was dissolved in 1977 and its assets divided between

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

and

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 ...

, TRC was formed to take over its operations in Tanzania. In 1997 the inland shipping division became a separate company.

MGR

In November 2021, TRC received the three modern locomotives (H10 series) worth Sh22 billion to strengthen their Metre-gauge railway (MGR) line, ordered from Malaysia.

Rail network

TRC's

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

is and the length about . Two east–west lines linking the coast and the hinterland were built under colonial rule as

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mo ...

: the Central Line runs from

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

to Kigoma, and the

Tanga Line The Usambara Railway (german: Usambarabahn) was the first railway to be built in German East Africa and what is today Tanzania. History German East-Africa A railway company was created in 1891 with the aim of connecting the port of Tanga at t ...

from Tanga to

Arusha Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census). Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern bran ...

. A north-south connection, from Korogwe to Ruvu, links the two lines. The main line runs to

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

where a connection operates ''via''

train ferries 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 f ...

with the Uganda Railway. From the Tanga line a line to Kenya is disused. Railways in Tanzania

There is a

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 ...

at Dar es Salaam to the

Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority 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 ...

(TAZARA) line to

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 ...

. A second link is at

Kidatu Kidatu is a town in central Tanzania, located in Kilombero District, Morogoro Region. The local population is about 3,300. The primary economic activity is the large Illovo sugar cane plantation and factory which produces of sugar per year. G ...

, where the TAZARA line meets the Kidatu branch.

Former Marine Division

TRC inherited ferry and

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

services on

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. T ...

and Lake Nyasa and some ships on

. TRC introduced on Lake Victoria in about 1979, on Lake Tanganyika in 1982 and passenger and

on Lake Victoria in 1988. On 21 May 1996 ''Bukoba'' sank in of water about off

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 ...

. She had many more passengers aboard than she was certified to carry and at least 800 people were killed. After the disaster criminal charges were brought against nine TRC officials including ''Bukobas

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

and the manager of the Marine Division. In 1997 the Marine Division became a separate company,

Marine Services Company Limited Marine Services Company Limited (MSCL) is a Tanzanian company that operates ferries, cargo ships and tankers on three of the African Great Lakes, namely Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa. It provides services to neighbouring Burundi, ...

Rail accidents

On 24 June 2002 the

Igandu train disaster The Igandu train disaster occurred during the early morning of June 24, 2002, in Tanzania. It is one of the worst rail accidents in African history. A passenger train with over 1,200 people on board rolled backwards down a hill into a slow movi ...

killed 281 people, the second highest number of deaths in a train disaster in Africa (the highest being the Awash rail disaster).

Privatisation, re-nationalization and recent plans

In 2007

RITES Ltd Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited, abbreviated as RITES Ltd, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India. It is an engineering consultancy corporation, specializing in the field ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

won a contract from the Parastatal Sector Reform Commission (PSRC) to operate passenger and freight trains on a concession basis for 25 years. The concession agreement was signed on 3 September 2007, to begin on 1 October 2007. The railway will be run as Tanzania Railway Ltd, with the government owning a 49% stake. There were moves to abandon the contract ''"due in part, to the fact that the Indian investor failed to pay over USD 6 million in concession fees to the Tanzania government in 2008"'' but RITES officials countered noting that the contract ''"misled Rites officials by indicating that the Railway Assets Holding Company (Rahco) was in possession of 92 working locomotives when, in actuality, only 55 existed"''. In 2010, the government terminated the contract and resumed control. In 2007 the Deputy Minister for Infrastructure Maua Abeid Daftari proposed

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...

Sleepers

In 2008 tenders were sought for -gauge steel sleepers convertible to gauge and for concrete sleeper plant for dual and gauges.

References

https://yapimerkezi.com.tr/En/Projects/Ongoing-Projects/Dar-Es-Salaam-Morogoro-RAILWAY

External links

{{authority control Railway companies of Tanzania Railway companies established in 1977 Government-owned companies of Tanzania 1977 establishments in Tanzania Metre gauge railways in Tanzania Government-owned railway companies

MGR