Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway

The Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is a railway system, under construction and partially in operation, linking Tanzania to the neighbouring countries of Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, and through these to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as part of the East African Railway Master Plan. The new, electrified standard gauge railway is intended to replace the old, inefficient metre-gauge railway system.

Overview
This 1435 mm railway line is intended to ease the transfer of goods between the port of Dar es Salaam and the cities of Kigali, in Rwanda, and Bujumbura, in Burundi, and ultimately to Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. From the lake port of Mwanza, ferries are expected to transport goods between Tanzania and Port Bell and Bukasa Inland Port, in Kampala, Uganda's capital city. The SGR system in Tanzania, in conformity with plans in neighboring Rwanda and Uganda, is designed to use electricity to power its locomotives.

The SGR is expected to accommodate passenger trains traveling at 160 km/h and cargo trains traveling at 120 km/h.

Construction phases
The railway system consists of several major phases:

Phase 1
The first phase covers a distance of 300 km, from the city Dar es Salaam to Morogoro.
 * Dar es Salaam–Morogoro Section

This section was contracted to a 50/50 consortium comprising Yapi Merkezi of Turkey and Mota-Engil of Portugal. Construction began in April 2017 and Yapi Merkezi have been showing the progress of construction with monthly video reports on YouTube. Partial funding for this section, amounting to US$1.2 billion, was borrowed from the Export Credit Bank of Turkey. There are six stations: Dar es Salaam, Pugu, Soga, Ruvu, Ngerengere and Morogoro. Three trains will make daily round trips.

With infrastructure complete electrical tests and live train trials began in late April, 2022. Passenger service on the section was inaugurated on 14 June 2024.

Phase 2
The second phase covers a distance of approximately 426 km, from Morogoro via Dodoma to Makutopora in Manyoni District, Singida Region. In September 2018, the government of Tanzania secured a US$1.46 billion soft loan from Standard Chartered Bank for the funding of this stretch. The section was also contracted to the consortium that is constructing the Dar es Salaam–Morogoro Section. The stations after Morogoro will be Mkata, Kilosa, Kidete, Gulwe, Igunda, Dodoma, Bahi and Makutopora.
 * Morogoro–Makutopora Section

As of May 2024, the work was reported as having reached 96.73% completion. The section is expected to open to passenger service in July 2024.

Phase 3 (aka phase 3, lot 1)
The third phase runs from Makutopora to Tabora, including 7 stations and 294 kilometers of mainline and 74 kilometers of intersections, for a total of 368 kilometers at a cost of US$1.9 billion (TZS 4.41 trillion). The contract has been awarded to Yapi Merkezi, which has constructed the first two phases. The foundation stone was placed in April, 2022 with work to start immediately. In 2023, the section was 67% completed when Yapi Merkezi reportedly began having financial troubles.
 * Makutopora–Tabora Section

Phase 4 (aka phase 3, lot 2)

 * Tabora–Isaka Section

The fourth phase will cover Tabora to Isaka, a distance of 130 km. As of August 2022, the Tabora–Isaka section has been awarded to Yapi Merkezi and work is in the mobilization stage. In January 2023, The Citizen newspaper reported that construction on the section has begun. In October 2023, the section was 17% completed.

Phase 5
This section, measuring approximately 341 km, runs from Isaka to the city of Mwanza, on the southern shores of Lake Victoria. In January 2021, The Citizen newspaper reported that two Chinese companies had been selected to construct this section of the SGR. China Civil Engineering Construction (CCEC) and China Railway Construction Company (CRCC) were selected to carry out the work at a contract price of approximately TZS:3 trillion (approx. US$1.3 billion). Later that month, The East African reported that Tanzania had secured funding worth US$1.32 billion through the Government of China, for the purpose of building this section of the SGR. The section is under construction. In May 2024, the section has reportedly reached 57.08% completion.
 * Isaka–Mwanza Section

Phase 6
Tabora–Kigoma

This section, measuring approximately 506 km, runs from Tabora to Kigoma on the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika. The contract was signed on December 20, 2022, between the Government of Tanzania and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and China Railway Construction Company (CRCC) for the construction of the railway.

Further planned phases
This stretch of the SGR is component of the Isaka–Kigali Standard Gauge Railway, and measures approximately 371 km. Construction of this section is budgeted at US$942 million. In April 2018, the EastAfrican newspaper reported that the World Bank had expressed its willingness to fund the Isaka–Kigali Standard Gauge Railway.
 * Isaka–Rusumo Section

Uvinza–Malagarasi Section

In January 2022, the governments of Tanzania and Burundi signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of a SGR line connecting the two countries. As part of the Tanzania–Burundi Standard Gauge Railway, 180 kilometres of railway will be constructed from Uvinza, off the Tabora–Kigoma line, to the Malagarasi river on the border. On the Burundian side, a second section of 187 kilometres will link the border town of Musongati to the capital Gitega. Initial cost was estimated at US$900 million.

Mtwara–Mbamba Bay Railway

A railway in southern Tanzania, linking the Indian Ocean to Lake Malawi, was first proposed in the 2000s. In November 2023, the Tanzanian government revived the project, seeking funding at an investor conference in Morocco and securing US$2.2 billion of interest in the project. Tanzania is looking for total funding of US$5.6 billion and a public-private partnership. The new railway will run for 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) from the coastal port of Mtwara to Mbamba Bay on the eastern shore of Lake Malawi, traversing regions rich in iron-ore, coal and graphite. It will also serve proposed coal and iron ore mines in Mchuchuma and Liganga.

Funding
Up until February 2020, the government of Tanzania was using locally generated funds and short-term temporary loans to fund the construction of the first two phases of this standard gauge railway project.

In February 2020, the government received a syndicated loan worth US$1.46 billion towards the completion of the first two phases of the national SGR. The financing package featured Standard Chartered as lead arranger and the Export Credit Agencies of Denmark and Sweden as major funding sources. The combined contract value for the first two phases is US$2.35 billion with US$950 million worth of funding to be organized by the Tanzania Ministry of Finance and the remaining US$1.45 billion by Yapı Merkezi.

The African Development Bank has pledged US$3.05 billion towards the link from Tabora to Kigoma as well as the stretch from Uvinza to the Burundian border.

In October 2023, the EastAfrican reported that Yapi Merkezi has run into financing problems and is seeking an additional US$1.8 billion to complete lots 3 and 4.

In November 2023, the managing director of TRC told media that the agency had secured at least US$2.2 billion of interest in the Mtwara–Mbamba Bay railway project.

Locomotives
The first operating locos on the SGR are second-hand Austrian Federal Railways class 1014 model electric locomotives. These are primarily used for testing. In addition, TRC has contracted with Korean firms Hyundai Rotem and Sung Shin Rolling Stock Technology for the supply of 17 SGR locomotive engines, 59 accompanying carriages and 10 electric multiple units (EMUs). On 30 December 2023, TRC took delivery of three locomotives as well as 27 passenger carriages (13 business class and 14 economy class carriages), bringing the total number of received carriages to 56. The EMU trainsets are expected to be delivered in batches between March and October 2024.

Strike
On August 5, 2023, around 2,000 employees from Turkey working on the construction of the railway project, who had not received their salary for 7 months, went on strike. The workers in Tanzania compelled the employers to pay five of the seven months of unpaid wages after 13 days of protests, with a commitment for regular payment being made for the remaining amounts. The strike concluded on August 18. The workers who had resigned from their positions due to unpaid wages and returned to Turkey started demonstrating in front of Yapı Merkezi's headquarters in Üsküdar, Istanbul on August 14, under the leadership of Dev-Yapı İş Union, affiliated with DİSK. Their sit-in concluced with victory after two weeks.