Zambia's train operations on the Nacala Corridor halted due to Floods

 

Part of the rail line in the Northern Mozambican province of Nampula has been washed away.

THE Zambia Railways Limited has temporarily suspended its operations along the Nacala corridor due to excessive flooding in Malawi and Mozambique.

Zambia Railways chief executive officer Muyenga Atanga, disclosed on Friday that some parts of the rail line have been washed away.

Speaking at a press briefing Professor Atanga said the suspension of operations will result in the railway firm losing US$4.5 million from the targeted US$10 million that was to be realized in 2015 through the transportation of 137,000 metric tonnes of cargo.

“The expected work to revive the line is quite involving but our business partners, the Central East African Railways (CEAR) in Malawi and Corredor de Desenvolvimento do Norte (CDN) in Mozambique are working on putting the line back into operation,” Professor Atanga said.

Professor Atanga however said repairs of the rail line will start soon and operations should resume in May this year.

“The earliest expected finish time for the damaged rail line is towards the end of March, 2015 and the latest finish time is end of April or May 2015,” Professor Atanga said.

The Nacala corridor is Zambia Railways’ shortest route to the Indian Ocean.

Professor Atanga said close to 1,000kms of the railway line along the Nacala Corridor has been cut off due to heavy rains in Malawi.

He said Zambia Railways is in talks with its railway partners in Malawi and Mozambique on alternative ways of moving cargo.

“One such possibility is re-routing the cargo via the port of Beira where we can work with the Mozambican Railways and the National Railways of Zimbabwe,” Professor Atanga said.