Tanzania seeks private partners for two standard-gauge freight lines

The two lines would be delivered through a public-private partnership and would complement the Y-shaped electrified standard-gauge route now being built across the central belt, Railway Gazette International reported. That central route is planned to connect Dar es Salaam with Mwanza, Kigoma and Musongati in Burundi; the InnoTrans report spells the Burundi terminus Musuongati.

Benjamin Mbimbi, Assistant Director for Railways at the Ministry of Transport, said preliminary feasibility work had been finished but needed refreshing. Tanzania wants firms ready to fund the investment and handle construction and operation, he said.

Kibona also said TRC intends to buy more rolling stock as sections of the standard-gauge network near completion. The planned order covers 34 electric locomotives, 10 hybrid shunting locomotives, 1,000 freight wagons, 60 passenger coaches, five electric multiple-units, six multi-purpose motor trolleys and eight reachstackers. He said tender details were being finalised and the government was funding the purchases.

Uchumi360, in its own analysis of the planned network, estimated the southern corridor at USD 5.6 billion to USD 12 billion and the northern one at about USD 3.3 billion. It put the full planned network at approaching 4,700 km, a total that includes both corridors. The search for private capital comes as the central corridor remains under construction; Uchumi360 reported that TRC's 2023/24 net loss of TZS 224 billion reflected the capital-intensive build.

South: Mtwara to Mbamba Bay

TRC signed a memorandum of understanding with Egypt's Arab Contractors on 16 October 2026 to revisit earlier plans for the route. Arab Contractors will do preliminary work at its own cost and is expected to submit an initial report within three months, TRC Director General Machibya Shiwa said.

Transport Minister Makame Mbarawa called the agreement "a preparatory step". He said the work must establish actual transport demand, construction costs, economic benefits and possible financing before Tanzania proceeds further.

The line would run east to west from Mtwara port through Songea to Mbamba Bay on Lake Malawi. Branch lines would reach the Mchuchuma coalfield and the Ludewa iron ore deposits, which include the Liganga project.

The project was first announced in 2011, and a framework agreement was concluded in 2015 with a Chinese consortium, Railway Gazette International reported. Uchumi360 reported that an earlier feasibility study dating to around 2016 was later identified as needing review, and that by 2024 the government had allocated funding for a transaction adviser to update the project and examine a public-private partnership.

The railway's economic case rests on freight from the Mchuchuma coal and Liganga iron and steel projects, Uchumi360 said. Those projects have spent years moving between negotiation, redesign and delay. The government signalled again in 2026 that it intends to move them into implementation from 2027, while work is progressing at Mbamba Bay Port.

North: Tanga to Musoma

Mbimbi put the northern corridor at around 1,000 km, linking the Indian Ocean port of Tanga with Arusha and Musoma on Lake Victoria, where ferries connect to Uganda. Uchumi360 gives the corridor's length as 1,108 km.

It would duplicate or substitute for the metre-gauge Usambara Railway between Tanga and Moshi, which returned to freight service in 2019. At that time, plans were announced to reopen the Moshi-Arusha section and restore passenger trains. The extended standard-gauge line would cross farming areas south of Mount Kilimanjaro and serve the Minjingu mining region. Kibona said the corridor holds promise, pointing to Tanzanian coal and copper from Congo.