Burundi has officially begun work on its first railway as President Evariste Ndayishimiye and Tanzania’s Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa laid a symbolic section of track in Musongati on August 16.
According to railjournal, the 282km standard-gauge line will run southeast from Musongati via Kasulu in Tanzania to Uvinza on the Kigoma – Tabora main line. The new line will have eight stations: three in Burundi and five in Tanzania.
Construction will be undertaken by China Railway Engineering Group and China Railway Engineering Design and Consulting and should take six years to complete.
The Burundian section is expected to cost $US 2.1bn and will be funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Tanzanian bank CRDB.
The new line will form part of the Central Corridor connecting Burundi and western Tanzania to the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam.
Ndayishimiye says the railway will enable Burundi to exploit millions of tonnes of nickel, iron and platinum.
“This railway will profoundly transform regional transport, reduce delays and transport costs,” says Flory Okendju, executive secretary of the Central Corridor, which is coordinating the project.
Okendju said feasibility studies are scheduled to be completed in May 2026 for a project to extend the railway to Uvira and Kindu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
