The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) has resumed mainline operations following a successful re-railing of the derailed rescue crane.
A statement issued by the TAZARA Head of Public Relations, Mr Conrad Simuchile, noted that Dar es Salaam was yesterday expected to dispatch three trains, one with 1,150mt of fuel destined for Malawi, the second with 1,250mt of fertilizer, cooking oil and other mixed goods destined for Zambia and the third with 900mt of fertilizer and other mixed goods also consigned to Zambia.
According to the statement, both passenger and freight operations immediately reverted to full gear on Wednesday with the Mukuba Express Passenger Train having been instantly dispatched from Dar es Salaam and two freight trains with 1,259mt of copper and 1,050mt of maize from Zambia having been delivered to Dar es Salaam in the night.
“Other transit trains that have immediately resumed rolling from Mlimba, Tunduma and Mpika include three copper-carrying trains with a total of 3,796mt of copper cathodes and 1,080mt of maize, all heading to Dar es Salaam from Zambia”, read the statement.
Mainline operations were suspended 13 days ago following the derailment of a rescue crane about 64.6km from Dar es Salaam. The rescue crane was in the area attempting to salvage some wagons that were involved in an accident some two months earlier.
The statement added the rescue crane, which is the most reliable of the two that are currently in service, had sunk and tilted on one unstable side of the line thereby creating a blockage in the process and authorities had to choose between saving the crane by rerailing it or losing it completely by pushing it off the line to remove the blockage. The crane was saved and the rescue operation ended successfully.
Source Tanzania Daily News
