The company Portos e Caminhos-de-Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) revealed that the rehabilitation of the Machipanda railway line, which links the city of Beira, in Sofala province, in the centre of the country, with Zimbabwe, has already made it possible to increase transport capacity to three million tonnes a year.
According to the entity, the 317-kilometre infrastructure, whose rehabilitation cost 150 million dollars, had a capacity to transport 0.4 million tonnes a year.
“The line has better traffic safety conditions. There has been a reduction in derailments and transit times, from 18 to 12 hours. We noted an increase in the line’s axle load capacity, which rose from 16.6 to 20.5 tonnes, with the commercial speed restored to 60 km per hour,” the institution said in a statement published by Lusa.
According to the publication, the first phase of the investment was valued at 30 million dollars and was carried out by CFM, which had to resort to bank financing for the remaining 80 per cent, from Standard Bank Moçambique, with 79.62 million dollars, Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI), with 35 million dollars, Absa Bank Moçambique, with 25 million dollars, and First National Bank Moçambique, with seven million dollars.
“The financing in question has a maturity of eight years, with a grace period of three years. This line is of great strategic importance for the Port of Beira, and especially for neighbouring Zimbabwe, whose exports and imports are ensured by Mozambican ports and corridors,” he stressed.
In November, during the reopening ceremony, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said that the Machipanda railway line was safer and more comfortable as a result of the recent rehabilitation and modernisation work on the infrastructure.
“Twenty-six years later, the Machipanda railway line is now open to passenger transport in a safer and more comfortable way. We believe that it will help increase the volume of cargo transported and reduce the transit time of trains and the cost of travelling,” said the statesman during an event attended by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
