Tanzania-Rwanda-Burundi Railway Test of Progress

The Planned Tanzania-Rwanda-Burundi railway is a dream come true. Experts say, the project, which starts later this year, is expected to be completed in 2014.

Engineers said recently the Dar es Salaam-Isaka railway line whose project costs will be in the area of US$3.5 billion will comprise of a modern high-speed train, with a minimum speed limit of 120 kilometers per hour.

That means that goods leaving Dar es Salaam in the morning will be in Kigali by evening and not the six days, like earlier designed to. That is very good for business, transport and development. That will be a first one in the region, the nearest of this kind of project being only in South Africa.
The greater news is that this is being done under the auspices of the East African Community.

Secondly, this comes at a time when the Kenya-Uganda railway, run by the RVR consortium is undergoing a sham performance. This will have significant effects on the way business is run.

First, it will give Dar es Salaam port added pressure to perform well beyond its present capacity as the current hinterland will see most importers and exporters shift from Mombasa port to Dar.

It takes 10 days for goods to leave Mombasa to Kigali by road.
Rwandan importers and consumers would save a trifle. Importers in Kigali who use road transport say that up to 40 percent of their capital is spent on transport.

The costs have been further pushed up by the strict enforcement of the three-axle load limit, many roadblocks and the bad roads in the region.

Records show that whereas a Rwandan importer spends between 40% and 50% of the value of the export on transport and insurance, the average for the world's developed countries is 8.6% and 17.2% for the least developed countries.

The railway line will spur development and exploitation of untapped natural resources in Tanzania, Burundi and the Congo which will provide the critical level of tonnage to support the railway.

The line would certainly greatly reduce transport costs as the only available means is by road and air, which are certainly way above what many ordinary folks can afford. It would also spur tourism and interaction for East Africans.

Martime records show that the number of containers transiting Tanzania is expected to increase by as much as 1,200 % or about 3 million foot equivalent units (FEUs) in the next 20 years. Last year, Dar es Salaam Port handled 350,000 containers over the planned 250,000 containers.