Rail cargo transport begins between Mozambique and Zambia

A train carrying 1 050 tonnes of inorganic fertilizers has left the port of Beira in central Mozambique, headed for Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, along the Machipanda railroad, according to Mozambican daily newspaper Notícias, reports macauhub. The newspaper added that the train is the first to travel to Zambia in 25 years, following a shut-down of the service during the 1976-1992 civil war and later due to failures to meet contractual obligations by the company running the Beira railroad system. These first 1 050t are part of a bigger lot of 10 000t at the port complex. The cargo train was made up of 25 trucks that, on their return, will carry copper for export to the European, Asian, American and Australian markets. Zambia is the second Southern African Development Community (SADC) country, after Zimbabwe, to receive and send cargo to-and-from the port of Beira by rail, over a distance of some 1 000 kilometres on a journey that takes at least 10 days. At the ceremony to mark the re-launch of the rail service, the governor of Sofala province, Félix Paulo said that between the beginning of the year and the end of September 2.8 million tonnes of cargo had been carried on the two railway lines that make up the Beira railroad system, which was an increase of 32% against the same period of 2012.