The Director General of Tanzania Railways Masanja Kadogosa and Erden Arioglu, the Deputy Chairman of Yapi Merkezi signed a USD 1.9 billion (TZS 4.4 trillion) contract for the construction of Makutupora – Tabora line, part of the Standard Gauge Railway network.
The ceremony was held at State House grounds in Dar es Salaam on December 28, 2021, where the President of the Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan attended.
The contract represents an “investment in our four out of five ongoing or first phase of the rail development in the country for the construction of a rail standard system from Dar Es Salaam to Mwanza, totalling TZS 14.7 trillion [USD 6.4 billion],” the President said.
Currently, Tanzania is constructing the fourth phase of Tabora – Isaka rail lines and the second phase of Tabora – Kigoma is underway. The President has instructed Tanzania Railways under the Ministry of Works and Transport to complete procurement procedures to find contractors to build the remaining rail lines part of SGR 3.
“The transport sector is important and we are recognising that the construction of modern railways will bring the impetus to economic and social development in towards a better economy,” the Minister of Works and Transport Makame Mbarawa said at the signing ceremony.
Yapi Merkezi will be responsible for the construction of Makutupora – Tabora line which will be 368 km long of which 294 km represents the mainline while 74 km will be constructed as junctions and additional branches. The project is expected to be completed in 2025.
Tanzania Railways will construct 2,561 km Standard Gauge Railway network linking Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kigoma, Katavi and neighboring countries of Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The construction of SGR consists of five phases covering 1,219 km long main track:
- Phase 1 Dar es Salaam – Morogoro (300 km). The project was launched in April 2017 and is constructed by Yapi Merkezi and Mota Engil Africa;
- Phase 2 Morogoro- Makutupora (422 km), launched in March 2018. The construction is performed by Yapi Merkezi
- Phase 3 Makutupora –Tabora (294 km) – Yapi Merkezi
- Phase 4 Tabora – Isaka (130 km)
- Phase 5 Isaka – Mwanza (249 km) – still in negotiations
