Rail transport in Malawi

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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 operate the network[ citation needed ].

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The rail network totalled 797 kilometres in 2001. Like most railways in Southern Africa, it is entirely to Cape gauge, i.e. 1067mm gauge.

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Mozambique

Sena Railway, connecting Zambia through Malawi to Mozambique Caminho de Ferro de Sena.png
Sena Railway, connecting Zambia through Malawi to Mozambique

In the city of Nkaya there is an interconnection between the Nacala railway and the Sena railway. Through the Nacala railway, it is possible to access the Port of Nacala in the east, and in the northwest of Mozambique, in the Moatize coal mines. Via the Sena railway (or Shire Highlands railway), there is a connection between the cities of Mchinji, Lilongue, Salima, Nkaya, Blantyre, Nsanje, Nhamayabué, Dondo and Port of Beira.

The Nacala railway line (Nacala Corridor line) to Mozambique via Nkaya to the port of Nacala; by the Sena railway line, from Nkaya to the Nhamayabué (Dona Ana Bridge) and Beira, has not been operational since the war in Mozambique and is in need of reconstruction.

In April 2011, the Malawi government and the Brazilian mining company Vale signed an agreement to construct a 100 kilometres (62 mi) short cut railway line from coal mines in Moatize to Blantyre, where it would connect with tracks to the port of Nacala. [1]

Tanzania and Zambia

In 2015, an extension of the Chipata line to a junction with the TAZARA line at Serenje was proposed. [2] In 2016, the contract was awarded. [3] There is no direct link with neighbouring Tanzania as there is a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)/1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in) metre gauge break of gauge.

A rail link to Chipata in Zambia was completed in 1984, [4] but a connection onward into Zambia was only opened in 2010. This line remains idle because there are few facilities at Chipata. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

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 797 kilometres of railways, all narrow-gauge and about 45 percent of its roads are paved. Though it is landlocked, Malawi also has 700 km (435 mi) of waterways on Lake Malawi and along the Shire River.

Transport in Mozambique

Modes of transport in Mozambique include rail, road, water, and air. There are rail links serving principal cities and connecting the country with Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa. There are over 30,000km of roads, but much of the network is unpaved.

This article is about the transport in Zambia.

Zambia Railways

Zambia Railways (ZR) is the national railway of Zambia, one of the two major railway organisations in Zambia, which may also be referred to as Railway Systems of Zambia (RSZ). The other system is the binational TAZARA Railway (TAZARA) that interconnects with the ZR at Kapiri Mposhi and provides a link to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam.

The Beira Railroad Corporation, or CCFB, was a joint venture railway company that was responsible for operating the railway lines in central Mozambique. It was formed to reform the railway lines that run from the Port of Beira, Mozambique, originally linking to Zimbabwe, although it later also linked to Malawi.

Moatize Place in Tete Province, Mozambique

Moatize is the principal town and administrative center of Moatize District in western Mozambique's Tete Province. It is located on the eastern side of the Zambezi River at the confluence of the Moatize and Revuboe Rivers. After Tete, it is the second largest urban area, by population, in western Mozambique.

Malawi Railways

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.

Rail transport in Zambia is primarily provided by two systems:

Mozambique Ports and Railways

Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique is a state-owned company that oversees the railway system of Mozambique and its connected ports.

Central East African Railways is a consortium formed in 1999, led by the Railroad Development Corporation, which won the right to operate the Malawi Railways network. The company was sold in September 2008 to INSITEC, an investment group based in Mozambique.

Railway stations in Mozambique include:

Railway stations in Zambia

Railway stations in Zambia include:

The Port of Nacala, also called the Nacala port complex, is a Mozambican port located in the cities of Nacala and Nacala-a-Velha. Is the deepest port in Southern Africa. The natural deep harbour serves landlocked Malawi with a 931-kilometre (578 mi) railway.

History of rail transport in Mozambique

The history of rail transport in Mozambique began in the latter years of the nineteenth century.

History of rail transport in Zambia

The history of rail transport in Zambia began at the start of the twentieth century.

CLIN, or the Sociedade do Corredor Logístico Integrado do Norte, is a business company related to logistics, whose main business is railway management in Mozambique and Malawi. The company is a joint venture.

History of rail transport in Malawi

The history of rail transport in Malawi began shortly after the turn of the twentieth century.

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 912 kilometres (567 mi) line that runs west from the port city of Nacala, crossing the central region of Malawi, connecting with the coal belt of Moatize, in northwest Mozambique. It is connected to the Dona Ana-Moatize railway branch and the Sena railway (Chipata-Lilongwe-Blantyre-Nhamayabue-Dondo). It also has a 262 kilometres (163 mi) branch line from Cuamba to Lichinga.

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 to Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Sena railway

Sena railway, also called Shire Highlands railway, Dondo-Malawi railway and North-South Malawi railway, is a railway that connects Dondo, Mozambique, to Chipata, in Zambia. It is c. 1000 km long, in a 1067 mm gauge.

References

Notes

  1. "Malawi ore corridor agreement". Railway Gazette International. 23 May 2011. Archived from the original on 28 May 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  2. http://www.railwaysafrica.com/news/article/linking-chipata-to-tazara
  3. Railway Gazette International Dec 2016, p. 07
  4. "Railway Gazette: News in Brief" . Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  5. "ZAMBIA'S IDLE CHIPATA LINE". Railways Africa. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2013.

Further reading

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Rail transport in Malawi at Wikimedia Commons