MORE PASSENGERS, MORE CARGO AND MAYBE EVEN PROFITABILITY AS MANAGEMENT CHANGES TAKE HOLD
(Posted 30th November 2016)
Ahead of the State visit by Zambian President Edgar Lungu to Tanzania has the Board of Directors and management of the company held a series of meetings in Dar es Salaam last week.
It was learned that the Chinese built railway has carried over the past year, since major changes in management were imposed on the company, just under 10 percent more cargo and nearly 20 percent more passengers on the route from Dar es Salaam to Zambia’s Kapiri Mposhi. Today’s cargo volumes however are a far cry from the 5 million tons uplifted at the early stages of the railway in the years after it was completed and handed over to the two countries by the Chinese government.
A host of measures were taken since then, vis a vis line maintenance but also refurbishment of locomotives and the rolling stock, to improve operational reliability and make rail transport from Zambia to Tanzania’s main Indian Ocean port more attractive for exporters and importers.
Part of the railway, from the environs of the Tanzanian capital, is now also used as a commuter train line and traffic there too has recorded a massive improvements in figures by over 45 percent.
Both President Magufuli and Lunga have during their meetings in Dar es Salaam agreed to further improve the railway connection between their two countries to facilitate growth in cargo and passenger traffic. The also agreed to initiate amendments to the MoU under which the railway presently operates to make it overall more efficient.
