Tanzania to Begin Operation of First Electric Train Next Year

The government of Tanzania has announced that the country will witness the first electric train travelling from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro on Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in December next year.
Meanwhile, the 240MW Kinyerezi II gas power plant project is now complete, only procedures for official handing over of the project to the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) are ongoing.
Government spokesman, Dr Hassan Abbas, made a public statement in Dar es Salaam yesterday, when shedding light on the achievements made during three years of President John Magufuli’s leadership.
Yesterday was exact three years since he came to power in 2015.
In a long-projected presentation containing 10 major areas of success, Dr Abbas said the fifth phase government had been implementing major projects, including the SGR, the 185MW Kinyerezi I and the 240MW Kinyerezi II, the Stiegler’s Gorge Hydroelectric Power and others meant to improve the lives of Tanzanians.
He said the SGR project implementation was going on well, with 33 per cent of construction already finished, giving hope for the start of the first electric train from December next year.
“The railway in this country was built in 100 years ago, and now we are building the SGR,” he noted. He went on noting that the construction of 240MW of Kinyerezi II was complete…and the handing over procedures were continuing.
He added that the Kinyerezi I project was in final touches and expected that in May next year it would also be completed, ready to add 185MW to the national grid.
Speaking on ATCL, which in the past was in a state of collapsing, Dr Abbas hinted that within three years seven new brand airplanes were purchased.
According to him, four of them have already arrived in Tanzania, two more Airbus A220-300 will land in the country next month.
“Another airplane of our dream, Boeing, will arrive at the end of next year,” he noted.
He further informed members of the public that revenue from mineral extraction had shot up in three years to 301bn/-, exceeding the initial target of collecting 194bn/-.
He explained that there were several measures taken to contain theft in the mining sector, one of them being the construction of a wall surrounding Mirerani Mine.
On improvement in state companies, he said the fifth phase government had performed well, mentioning some of the entities as Tanzania Telecommunications Company (TTCL), which had increased revenue from 102bn/- to 200bn