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Regional railway is viable project |
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Written by Kabona Esiara
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Wednesday, 01 April 2009 |
Construction of this multinational railway line is planned to begin at the end of this year and after three years, the first train is expected to land in Kigali.
The recommendations come after a recent donor roundtable meeting in Tunisia. The governments of Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi had called the meeting to drum up support for the project. The roundtable was attended by representative from the World Bank, the Africa Development Bank, mining companies, transporters and lawyers.
 Infrastructure Minister Linda Bihire. (file photo)
The Minister also says the cost of the project has been reduced drastically, and investment returns are projected in billions of dollars. The costs will drop by between 20 and 30% after adjustments on the earlier plan. Preliminary studies had indicated that at least US$ 3.5 billion would be needed to complete the project but the bill has gone down to US$ 2.450 billion.
As for revenue, it is projected that the multinational railway will rake in a US$ 44.8 billion after in 30 years of operation.
With most cargo in the region currently being handled by road, countries are spending a lot to in maintenance to keep the roads passable. Rwanda with its steep hills is spending billions of tax payers’ money on rehabilitating the narrow roads which date back to colonial times. It is estimated that the country pays Frw 1 million for tarmacking one kilometer of road.
Governments and the private sector in Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda also look at the Dar-es-Salaam–Kigali–Bujumbura railway line as the best alternative to tame the escalating transport costs in the region.
“The train is cheaper and will be faster,” says Chantal Uwimana, who works with the petroleum company Kobil.
Minister Bihire assures transporters that when completed; transport costs would drastically reduce.
High speed
According to plan, the old Dar es Salaam-Isaka line will also be upgraded to a 1,435 mm standard gauge railway that can handle more cargo and on which trains can move at a high speed. Most regional rail lines are 1,000 mm in width which slows carriages down and allows limited cargo. When the Dar-Kigali-Bujumbura line is completed, a modern high-speed train, with a minimum speed of 120 kilometers per hour will be deployed on the rail.
Engineers at the ministry of infrastructure project that cargo will be delivered in Kigali or Dar es Salaam within a day, as opposed the whole week trucks are currently spending to complete the trajectory.
Tanzania’s Finance Minister, Mustafa H. Mkulo, for his part asked donors to understand the project and fully support it.
“Our countries have reaffirmed their commitment and the project is offering significant benefits with regard to regional integration and poverty reduction,” he said.
The news will come as a relief to businesspeople involved in regional trade, given that Rift Valley Railways (RVR), a consortium that was contracted to manage the Kenya-Uganda railway, frustrated many businesses. It is reported that until it was closed recently, the company could only handle less than fifteen percent of the cargo from Mombasa port.
This forced companies to use road transport, making doing business in the region expensive. Moreover, due to road damage the governments were enforcing the axle load limit regulation, forcing haulers to reduce the tonnage transported on roads to less than half. So to make some profits, the business community pushes the cost on the final consumer. |
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National News 