Tanzania is aiming to move 1,500 containers a day by train from the port of Dar es Salaam, Permanent Secretary for Transport Godius Kahyarara said on 14 October in an interview published Thursday by The Citizen.
The official puts the potential daily capacity of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) at 500 containers, compared with up to 100 currently carried, with trials launched by private operators. The Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) should be able to transport 1,000 a day.
The aim is to limit traffic jams and delivery delays, according to Mr Kahyarara. The programme relies on improving existing lines and connecting the port to the standard-gauge network.
This connection was already the subject of an official inspection on 18 May. TRC explained at the time that freight would reach Morogoro and Bahi, before being transhipped to the metre-gauge network to continue its journey within the country or abroad. The operator presented this arrangement as a way to reduce truck queues on the Morogoro road.
Beyond Tanzanian traffic, these links are of interest to shippers in neighbouring countries. In its presentation of the Isaka dry port, TRC cites its role in bringing the port of Dar es Salaam closer to Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.