Tanzania Welcomes Six Double-Decker Carriages For Its Standard Gauge Railway
Tanzania’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Project received a significant upgrade on June 9, 2023, with the arrival of six double-decker carriages. The carriages, acquired from a German company*, were officially received by Hon. Atupele Mwakibete, Deputy Minister of Construction and Transportation, at a ceremony in Dar es Salaam.
These six carriages are part of a larger order of thirty units commissioned for refurbishment aimed at boosting the capacity and operational efficiency of the SGR. The Tanzanian Government, through the Tanzania Railway Corporation, remains committed to the swift and effective completion of the SGR project to bolster the country’s rail transportation services and, by extension, stimulate economic and social development.
The upgrade comes as part of the sixth phase government’s broader procurement strategy for passenger and cargo carriages. Of the total 59 new carriages procured from South Korea, 14 have already been received, with the newly arrived six double-decker carriages set to facilitate initial trials for the first phase of the SGR project. The trials are expected to commence once a locomotive head arrives in the country in July.
The Director-General of the Tanzanian Railway Corporation, Mr. Masanja Kadogosa, elaborated on the specifics of the new acquisitions. Among the six double-decker carriages, four are second-class, each capable of accommodating 123 passengers, while the remaining two are third-class carriages with a capacity of 140 passengers. These modern carriages, equipped with air conditioning, televisions, and CCTV systems for enhanced security, can reach speeds of up to 160km per hour, essentially matching the capacity of three buses.
*This article has been translated from Swahili, the German company mentioned in the media release from TRC is Lückemeier Transport & Logistik GmbH.
