Tanzania plans to test its first electric train in July this year

Tanzania is preparing its ground to test its first, maiden, cheaper and very superior own funded electric train. With a projected speed of up to 160 miles per hour, the train is going to be one of Africa’s high speed trains.

Tanzania's minister for works, transport and communications, Eng Isack Kamwele opined that the East Africa country will apply the first trial of the speedy electric train in July this year to cover a sector of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

The first 300 kilometres phase running from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro with 6 stations in between will commence its operations in December this year. There will be three passenger trains in phase one at the starting point that will be taking daily round trips between the two cities. Each passenger train is capable of making 9 to 12 trips a day or even more.

The train will use concrete sleepers which improve durability and give the railway network capacity to carry up to 35 tonnes per axle loads. The rails can survive up to 40 years before any major repairs while the train bridge can survive up to 100 years. So far, over 26,000 employment opportunities have been created by the USD 1.9 billion project and more job opportunities will be created in the second phase and subsequent ones and once the stations become fully operational, as reported by CTGN Africa.

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