SOUTHERN African Railways Association (SARA) says regional railway operators are keen to develop the Dar es Salaam corridor into a preferred route as it offers the shortest path to the Far East.

The National Railways of Congo (SNCC), Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) and Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) are members of the Dar es Salaam Corridor Management Group, which is a committee of SARA, while the corridor links the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania.

SARA committee chairman Francis Lwanga, who is also ZRL director of marketing, said there is need for integration among the three railway operators to make improvement and address various challenges faced by users.
Recently, the three railway firms conferred with their customers in Dar es Salaam under SARA and expressed happiness at the improvements in railway operations.
“SNCC, TAZARA and ZRL met last week to discuss ways of improving and growing business on the Dar es Salaam Corridor using railways to and from the Port of Dar.
“The Dar es Salaam corridor is one of the safest and shortest routes for many customers especially those with business interests in the Far East, so we must continuously interact and strive to make improvements so that we can expeditiously address all emerging concerns,” Mr Lwanga said in a statement released by TAZARA head of public relations Conrad Simuchile on Monday.
Most railway users have commended the operators for improving the operations, especially by shortening of the transit time between Zambia and Tanzania, which is now between four and seven days.
Meanwhile, both the railway operators and users commended the Tanzanian government for responding to stakeholders’ calls for scrapping the value added tax on transit goods in the 2017/18 national budget and that it will make the corridor more competitive.

Source: Daily Mail

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