The Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) announced Wednesday it has received 264 cargo wagons manufactured by China’s CRRC Qiqihar Rolling Stock Co., Ltd. for the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) electric trains.
The wagons, part of a larger order of 1,430 units from CRRC, arrived at the port of Dar es Salaam on Tuesday. According to TRC, 200 of the delivered wagons will be used for container transport, while 64 will carry loose cargo.
After unloading the cargo wagons, TRC will conduct trial runs, initially without cargo and later with cargo, between Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, and Dodoma, the Tanzanian capital. TRC stated that commercial operations will commence once the wagons are certified for use by both TRC and contractor experts, though no specific timeline for the trial runs was provided.
The new cargo wagons come after Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan officially launched passenger services on the country’s SGR electric trains on August 1. The service connects Dar es Salaam to Dodoma via Morogoro.
TRC Director General Masanja Kadogosa said the broader SGR project, once completed, will span 1,596 kilometers from Dar es Salaam to the Mwanza region. The modern rail link is expected to reduce travel time and significantly boost economic development within Tanzania and across the East African region.