rail status minimally operational near collapse termini dar es salaam kapiri mposhi website tazarasite.com operation opened 1975 operator s tanzania zambia railway authority technical line length 1 860 km 1 160 mi track gauge 1 067 mm 3 ft 6 in tanzania railway network interactive version 1000mm gauge 1067mm gauge tazara the tazara railway also called the uhuru railway or the tanzam railway is a railroad in east africa linking the port of dar es salaam in tanzania with the town of kapiri mposhi in zambia s central province . the single track railway is 1 860 km 1 160 mi long and is operated by the tanzania zambia railway authority tazara . the governments of tanzania zambia and china built the railway to eliminate landlocked zambia s economic dependence on rhodesia now zimbabwe and south africa both of which were ruled by white minority governments . 1 the railway provided the only route for bulk trade from zambia s copperbelt to reach the sea without having to transit white ruled territories . the spirit of pan african socialism among the leaders of tanzania and zambia and the symbolism of china s support for newly independent african countries gave rise to tazara s designation as the great uhuru railway uhuru being the swahili word for freedom . the project was built from 1970 to 1975 as a turnkey project financed and supported by china . at the time of its completion two years ahead of schedule the tazara was the single longest railway in sub saharan africa . 2 tazara was the largest single foreign aid project undertaken by china at the time at an initial construction cost of us 500 million the equivalent of us 3.05 billion today 3 tazara has faced operational difficulties from the start and is in a state of near collapse as of 2015 . annual traffic was only 88 000 metric tons in fiscal year 2015 less than 2 % of the railway s design capacity of 5 million tonnes per year . 4 5 contents 1 route 1.1 dar es salaam metropolitan area 1.2 tanzanian interior 1.3 zambia 2 passenger service 3 rail gauge and standards 4 equipment 4.1 locomotives 5 history 5.1 origins of the project 5.2 attempts to secure funding 5.3 chinese support 5.4 construction 5.5 initial difficulties 5.6 growth in traffic 5.7 collapse 5.8 attempts at revitalization 6 social impact 7 legacy 8 see also 9 maps 10 references 11 sources 12 external links route edit map showing the course of the tazara in relation to tanzania s geography national parks and game reserves . v t e tanzania zambia railway tazara legend km 0.0 dar es salaam 1.9 to port of dar es salaam 3.0 yombo 18.1 mwakanga 28.7 vigama 33.7 kazimzumbwi 42.0 kifuru 64.7 chakenge 70.6 mzenga 89.8 nyani 103.0 gwata 130.8 kidunda 161.8 kinyanguru 191.2 fuga 199.3 metambwe 217.0 kisaki 247.1 lumango 274.8 pwaga 305.5 0 msolwa 24.1 kidatu 109.5 kilosa tanzania railways central line 315.3 katulukilla 321.2 mang ula 331.1 kiberege 342.5 siginali 360.0 ifakara 378.7 idete 394.1 ruipa 412.5 mbingu 430.3 mngeta 447.0 ikule 462.1 chita 480.3 chisano 496.1 mlimba 509.1 lumumwe 521.7 kimbwe 534.8 mpanga 555.9 kitete 569.3 uchindile 584.3 mgololo 596.7 kiyowela 621.3 kitandililo 633.8 mahongole 651.5 makambako 671.5 wanging mbe 690.6 kangaga 704.9 rujewa 720.7 msesule 749.4 chimala 769.4 igurusi 784.4 ilongo 800.3 malamba 810.6 lumba 822.9 inyala 832.9 uyole 848.8 mbeya 860.1 mbalizi 872.1 idiga 890.1 chikola 915.4 mlowo 926.2 vwawa 952.4 mpemba 969.6 tunduma tanzania zambia border 971.0 nkonde 982.1 mwenzo 990.1 msanza 1008.6 kawila 1023.7 luchinde 1038.0 chozi 1056.0 luchewe 1088.0 kalulu 1103.0 makasa 1135.9 kayaya 1151.0 chimba 1169.0 malenge 1183.3 nseluka proposed line to port mpulungu 1212.8 kungu 1222.3 kasama 1264.9 nkolemfumu 1282.4 ishitu 1315.4 chambeshi 1329.5 mpepo 1358.9 kasongo 1386.6 kabuka 1412.0 sabwa 1424.0 mpika 1448.1 chilonga 1469.0 kapoko 1493.2 kalonje 1505.8 salamo 1525.9 mununga 1535.4 finkuli 1559.5 lukulu 1597.7 luslwasi 1593.5 kanona 1617.0 chakalamo 1643.8 kawaluma 1664.2 serenje zambia railways to lusaka 1690.8 chisangwa 1720.1 ndabala 1734.9 mkushi river 1747.6 nkolonga 1773.0 mkushi 1792.9 ngambwa 1817.6 lunsemfwa 1844.1 luanshimba 1863.1 new kapiri mposhi 1864.6 649.6 kapiri north junction to congo dr tazara railway station in dar es salaam tazara locomotive passing through the selous game reserve tazara train station in ifakara the mpanga river bridge and tunnel . the tazara station at makambako . mbeya station on the tazara railway bridge crossing on the tazara railway in zambia in 2009 . the new kapiri mposhi station in 2009 running some 1 860 km 1 160 mi from tanzania s largest city dar es salaam on the coast of the indian ocean to kapiri mposhi near the copperbelt of central zambia the tazara is sometimes regarded as the greatest engineering effort of its kind since the second world war . the railway crosses tanzania in a southwest direction leaving the coastal strip and then entering largely uninhabited areas of the vast selous game reserve . the line crosses the tan zam highway at makambako and runs parallel to the highway toward mbeya and the zambian border before entering zambia and linking with zambia railways at kapiri mposhi . from sea level the railway climbs to 550 metres 1 800 feet at mlimba and then reaches its highest point of 1 789.43 metres 5 870.8 feet at uyole in mbeya before descending to 1 660 metres 5 450 feet at mwenzo the highest point in zambia and settling to 1 274.63 metres 4 181.9 feet at kapiri mposhi . 6 dar es salaam metropolitan area edit in greater dar es salaam the tazara is also used for passenger commuter rail . the dar es salaam commuter rail was launched in 2012 to relieve traffic congestion . the tazara offers two routes on its 20.5 km rail network . 7 the first from its station in dar es salaam to mwakanga which lies on the outskirts of the city . it stops at kwa fundi umeme kwa limboa lumo kigilagila sigara kitunda road kipunguni b majohe and magnus . the second service runs from its dar es salaam station to kurasini via kwa fundi umeme yombo chimwaga maputo mtoni relini and kwa aziz ali relini . 8 tanzanian interior edit upon leaving the coast tazara runs west through the pwani region then dips south of mikumi national park and enters the wilderness in the northern part of the selous game reserve in the morogoro region . the selous is one of the largest faunal reserves in the world and passengers can often see wildlife such as giraffe elephant zebra antelope and warthog which have become accustomed to the rumbling of the trains . 9 the railway crosses the great ruaha river for the first time in the selous . further south the railway cuts through the fertile kilombero valley and skirts the great kibasira swamp . the next section between mlimba the kingdom of elephants and makambako the place of bulls was to be 158 km 98 mi long and presented the builders of the railway with the greatest challenge . to lay track across rugged mountains precipitous valleys and deep swamps it was necessary to construct 46 bridges 18 tunnels and 36 culverts . 10 because of the heavy rainfall in this area intricate drainage works had to be integrated with every feature . but perhaps the most spectacular feature is the bridge across mpanga river valley which stands above the river on three 50 m 164 ft tall pillars . at kidatu a metre gauge branch railway connects to the central line at kilosa . the tazara then climbs into southern highlands of the iringa region and levels out onto a rolling plateau . here in the coffee and tea country of the njombe region the weather becomes noticeably cooler the air sharper . on the approach to makambako the udzungwa mountains national park rise 2 137 m 7 011 ft to the north while the kipengere range roll ahead to the south . makambako is one of the meeting points of the railway and the tanzania zambia highway . from makambako the railway and the highway run a parallel course towards mbeya running past the kipengere range that towers to the south . here in the mbeya region the tazara crosses several upstream tributaries of the great ruaha which are lined with belts of forest and grasslands . after the kipengere mountains the uporoto range takes over with the usangu flats stretching to the north . from mbeya town both the railway and the highway heads northwest to tunduma where they cross the border into zambia . zambia edit the tazara enters northeastern zambia at mwenzo in the northern province and heads southwest to kasama . it then turns due south and crosses the chambeshi river en route to mpika . after entering the central province the railway again turns to the southwest running along the northern foothills of the muchinga mountains past serenje and mkushi to kapiri mposhi located due north of the lusaka . passenger service edit as of february 2016 two passenger trains per week traverse the entire tazara in each direction departures are on tuesdays and fridays in each direction . the brand new express train travels fridays from dar and tuesdays from new kapiri mposhi . the ordinary train makes all possible stops and the express service makes fewer stops 11 9 the entire journey as scheduled takes 36 hours though delays can extend the trip to as long as 50 hours or more . 9 12 trains on the tazara are slower than overland bus service but cheaper and safer . 9 13 in recent years the tazara trains have attracted foreign tourists wishing to see the landscape and wildlife along route . 9 rovos rail of south africa operates the pride of africa a luxury train that runs periodic tours from cape town to dar es salaam via the tazara . 14 commuter train service on the tazara between dar es salaam and its suburbs commenced in 2012 . rail gauge and standards edit the tazara has a track gauge of 3 ft 6 in 1 067 mm also known as the cape gauge which is widely used throughout southern africa . 15 tazara connects to the cape gauge zambia railways at kapiri mposhi . the remainder of tanzania s railways have 1 000 mm 3 ft 3 3 8 in metre gauge tracks . 16 a transshipment station with a break of gauge station was built in kidatu in 1998 . 16 except for the rail gauge tazara generally reflects chinese railway standards of the 1970s . the original technical characteristics of the line are couplers janney aar 17 brakes air vacuum 18 axle loading 20 metric tons 18 sleepers concrete on main line wood at turnouts and on bridges . 18 rail high manganese steel 45 kg m 90 lb yard mostly jointed . 19 signals semaphore design speed 70 miles per hour 110 km h 20 design capacity 5 million metric tons per year . 4 loading gauge limited by 22 tunnels in the udzungwa mountains equipment edit locomotives edit type quantity manufacturer notes sources sdd20 10 csr qishuyan 21 22 u30c 10 krupp variant of ge u26c not to be confused with the identically named ge u30c . 22 ck6 csr chengdu shunting locomotive 23 history edit origins of the project edit in the late 19th century a railway from british rhodesia to tanganyika then german east africa to carry copper ore was originally envisioned by cecil rhodes . 2 after world war i tanganyika was handed over to the united kingdom for administration as a league of nations mandate and british colonial authorities again explored the idea . 2 following world war ii interest in railway construction revived . 2 a map from april 1949 in the railway gazette showed a proposed line from dar es salaam to kapiri mposhi not far from the