Tanzania Railway Corp and Yapı Merkezi signed the contract for the construction of Tabora – Isaka SGR which will be part of the Dar es Salaam – Mwanza rail corridor. At the same ceremony, the state-owned company signed with Korea National Railway an agreement which covers staff training during the construction and operation period of the standard gauge railway network.

The two contracts were signed in the presence of Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu, the prime minister Kassim Majaliwa as well as government leaders and deputy ministries.

The two agreements are of “great importance as it is completing the first phase of our modern railway network from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza and begin preparations to build the needed capacity to run and manage our railway instead of relying on experts from outside,” the president said.

Under the USD 2 billion contract, the Turkish company will build a 165 km standard gauge railway which is expected to be completed in 42 months, including a 6-month period of trials.

“The investment to build new railway infrastructure has reached TZS 16 trillion [USD 6.87 billion] for the first phase of the standard gauge rail from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza,” the director general of Tranzania Railways Corp Masanja Kungu Kadogosa said.

The railway line will cross nine regions and will provide rail connection to the neighboring countries of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, South Sudan and other African countries.

At the beginning of 2022, Yapi Merkezi signed the contract for the construction of 368 km standard gauge railway between Makutupora and Tabora, which is the third SGR contract won by the Turkish company worth USD 1.9 billion. The construction for the new line was launched in April in Tabora. The project also includes the construction of seven stations, signalling and electrification works.

Tabora – Isaka SGR is the fourth phase of the development of Tanzania’s standard gauge railway network comprising 1,219 km from Dar es Salaam, crossing Morogoro, Makutupora, Tabora and Isaka, towards the city port of Mwanza, on the shore of Lake Victoria.