History of rail transport in Tanzania
The history of rail transport in Tanzania began in the late nineteenth century.
Zanzibar
From about 1880 to 1888, a
In 1905, a second tramway was built, this time by a US company. It lasted until 1930.
Tanganyika
German colonial period
The first railway lines in
In 1891, the Eisenbahngesellschaft für Deutsch-Ostafrika (English: Railway Company for German East Africa) was established, with the goal of building a railway from
The construction of the Usambara Railway, from Tanga to the hinterland, began in 1893. However, the company building that railway went into bankruptcy after two years. At that stage, only 40 km (25 mi) of track had been completed, as far as Korogwe. The treasury of the colony then took over the project in 1899. Four years later, in 1903, it issued an Order for further construction. Subsequently, there were other attempts to operate the railway on an economically and juristically stable footing.
In 1904, the smaller railways received a boost. Meanwhile, in Germany, the Sigi-Eisenbahngesellschaft (English: Sigi Railway Company) was established, with the objective of constructing one of the narrow gauge railways branching off the Usambara Railway, the Sigi-Bahn,[1] in 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) gauge. The same year, 1904, the Ostafrikanische Eisenbahngesellschaft (English: East African Railway Company) (OAEG) was formed to promote a railway from Dar es Salaam in the direction of Lake Tanganyika, the Zentralbahn (English: Central Line). Kigoma was reached on 2 February 1914, on the eve of World War I. Later in 1914, work began on the Ruandabahn,[2] a line from Tabora to the territory that was later to become Rwanda. This project was thwarted by the outbreak of World War I.
East African Campaign
During World War I, German and Allied forces engaged in the
By September 1916, both the Usambara Railway and the Central Line from the coast at Dar es Salaam to Ujiji were fully under Allied control.
British mandate
After the Armistice in 1918, the British occupied Tanganyika was granted to the United Kingdom as a League of Nations mandate. On 1 April 1919, the new colonial administration established Tanganyika Railways and Port Services as the operator of the railways in the mandated territory.
In 1928, the Tabora–Mwanza railway was completed with the assistance of the German pre war preparations for the Ruandabahn. In 1930, the Usambara Railway was extended to Arusha. In 1948, a branch line from the Central Line was opened between Msagali and Hororo, and in 1949/1950 the Kaliua–Mpanda line was opened. As early as 1951, the line to Hororo was closed.
In 1948, Tanganyika Railways and Port Services was merged with its counterparts in
From 1950, the Overseas Food Corporation established the 610 mm (2 ft) Southern Province Railway in the south of Tanganyika. It linked the port of Mikindani with the growing regions for the Tanganyika groundnut scheme in the hinterland. Eventually the network reached a total length of more than 250 km (155 mi). In 1952, it was transferred to the East African Railways and Harbours Administration.
Republic of Tanzania
In a series of steps between 1961 and 1964, Tanganyika became independent and united with Zanzibar in a federation. Meanwhile, the existing network was expanded. In 1963, a coastal railway was constructed to link the Central and the Usambara Railway, and in 1965 a branch line was opened southwards, from Kilosa, on the Central Line, to Kidatu. In 1963, the narrow gauge network in southern Tanganyika was shut down.
From 1964, discussions took place about a proposed railway line between Tanzania and
The TAZARA was built in
In 1977, in light of the different policies and widening standards of economic development in its participating countries, the
The TAZARA has been a major economic conduit in the region. However, it has never been profitable and more recently it has suffered from competition from road transport (such as the
Meanwhile, in 2007
See also
References
Notes
- ^ de:Sigi-Bahn
- ^ de:Ruandabahn
- ^ Thomas W. Robinson and David L. Shambaugh. Chinese Foreign Policy: theory and practice, 1994. Page 287.
- ^ de:Kondominalbahn
- ^ Seat 61 website accessed 20 February 2007
- ^ "Save the 'Uhuru Railway' from collapse" Archived 2009-07-14 at the Wayback Machine "This Day", Wednesday, October 29, 2008.
- ^ Lusaka Times, Jan 2010
- ^ Southern Times, June 2010
- ^ "Rites Consortium to run railway in 2007". Archived from the original on 2006-07-13. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
- ^ "October start for Tanzania rail concession". Railway Gazette International. 2007-09-12.
- The East African, 2010-03-22
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-370-30774-7.
- Baltzer, Franz (1916). Die Kolonialbahnen mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Afrikas [The Colonial Railways with particular reference to Africa]. Berlin, Leipzig, Göschen: (Reprint: Leipzig 2007: Holzminden Reprint-Verl.). ISBN 9783826202339. (in German)
- Burton, David (2014). The Groundnut Line: The Story of the Southern Province Railway of Tanganyika. Telford, Shropshire: David Burton.
- Hill, M F (1961) [1949]. Permanent Way Volume 1: The Story of the Kenya & Uganda Railway (second ed.). Nairobi, Kenya: East African Railways and Harbours. OCLC 180339772.
- Hill, M F (c. 1957). Permanent Way Volume II: The Story of the Tanganyika Railways. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Railways and Harbours. OCLC 16947640.
- Hollingsworth, J B (1980). Atlas of the World's Railways. Adelaide: Rigby. p. 243. ISBN 0727003054.
- Patience, Kevin (1998). Zanzibar and the Bububu Railway (rev. ed.). Bahrain: K Patience. OCLC 71209216.
- Pearce, Francis Barrow (1920). Zanzibar: The Island Metropolis of Eastern Africa. London: T Fisher Unwin Ltd. p. 146. OL 13518480M.
- Ramaer, Roel (2009). Gari la Moshi: Steam Locomotives of the East African Railways. Malmö: Stenvalls. Wikidata Q111363479.
- Schroeter, Helmut (1961). Die Eisenbahnen der ehemaligen deutschen Schutzgebiete Afrikas und ihre Fahrzeuge = Die Fahrzeuge der deutschen Eisenbahnen 7 [The Railways of the former German Protectorates in Africa and their Rolling Stock = the Rolling Stock of the German Railways 7]. Frankfurt am Main: Verkehrswissenschaftliche Lehrmittelgesellschaft. (in German)
- Schroeter, Helmut; Ramaer, Roel (1993). Die Eisenbahnen in den einst deutschen Schutzgebieten: Ostafrika, Südwestafrika, Kamerun, Togo und die Schantung-Eisenbahn: damals und heute [German colonial railways: East Africa, Southwest Africa, Cameroon, Togo and the Shantung Railway: then and now]. Krefeld: Röhr-Verlag. ISBN 3884901842. (in German and English)
- Robinson, Neil (2009). World Rail Atlas and Historical Summary. Volume 7: North, East and Central Africa. Barnsley, UK: World Rail Atlas Ltd. ISBN 978-954-92184-3-5.
- Sölch, Werner (1985). Kap-Kairo: Eisenbahnen zwischen Ägypten und Südafrika. Düsseldorf: Alba Verlag. ISBN 3-87094-101-4. (in German)
External links
Media related to Rail transport in Tanzania at Wikimedia Commons