The nascent Pan Africa Railway industry has taken another step forward. Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) has begun assembling diesel-electric locomotives to service freight traffic on its meter-gauge rail network. In doing this, Tanzania has become the second African country after South Africa to build diesel-electric locomotives. Whereas South Africa, which has been building the locomotives for decades using American technology from producers Webtec and Caterpillar, the Tanzanian ones were designed and developed in Malaysian, an example of South-South cooperation.
The project is currently underway at the Pugu Railway Workshop in Dar es Salaam, and officials have told Business Insider that the initiative could reduce reliance on imports while strengthening local technical expertise in the rail industry.
During a visit to the workshops, Tanzanian Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructure chairperson Selemani Kakoso said, “This initiative demonstrates that Tanzania is capable of developing advanced technical skills within its railway sector. If we continue investing in local expertise, the country can eventually undertake even more complex railway engineering work.”
