Tanzania has begun testing the electrical systems on the Dar es Salaam – Morogoro railway following the completion of a high-voltage transmission line.
The 202km Phase 1 of Tanzania’s 2561-km standard gauge railway project is expected to be commissioned later this year. The project whose construction started in April 2017 is being implemented by Yapi Merkezi and Mota-Engil Africa.
In her address to parliament, Tanzanian president Mrs Samia Suluhu said the project is 91% complete.
The state-owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) constructed a 160km, 220 kV transmission line from Dar es Salaam (Kinyerezi) to Morogoro (Kingorwira) that will supply 70MW power to the rail project. The line, built at a cost of Tshs 71.1 billion ($30.7m), was completed in February and includes four traction substations at 50km apart and 19 transformers. Testing of the electrical systems is expected to take three months and will be done in two main stages — a unit test and a component test.
The 2561km SGR project is being implemented in five phases, including Morogoro – Makutopora (348km), Makutopora – Tabora (294km), Tabora – Isaka (130km), and Isaka – Mwanza (341km). In January, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) were awarded the contract for the $1.32bn Isaka – Mwanza section.
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