US$300m for Central Railway rehabilitation

The World Bank has approved a US$300 million (about R3.2 billion) soft loan to strengthen the Central Railway line which serves Tanzania and neighbouring countries, according to EIN News.

Meanwhile, according to a press release from the World Bank carried by allAfrica.com, the funds will be used to strengthen the country’s Central Corridor, boosting the rail agencies' ability to manage the infrastructure, traffic operations and network regulation. The project is the first step to the eventual upgrading and expansion of the broader corridor transport network, it added.

And, said Henry des Longchamps, the World Bank task team leader for the project: “The financing will support the intermodal and rail development project, designed to increase the reliability of the rail infrastructure and the train operations; strengthen logistics in the port of Dar es Salaam and the rail terminals; and strengthen rail operations. The funds will go to relaying rail tracks, building new intermodal terminals, repairing or reconstructing bridges, and supporting the institutional transformation of the sector."