By CHARITY MOONGA –
THE express goods train from Zambia to the central Mozambican port of Beira, via Zimbabwe, will start running by this month-end with a target of carrying 10,000 tonnes of cargo every month..
According to Mozambican Ports and Rail Company (CFM) central division executive director Candido Jone, the train will cover a distance of over 1,000 kilometres.
Mr Jone told reporters that the first train would be formed of 20 platforms, each holding 12 containers and would take two days to move the cargo from Zambia to Beira.
This is according to a statement on the Zambia Development Agency website.
Mr Jone said the target of the train was to carry 10,000 tonnes of cargo a month on the express trains.
“On the down line the trains will carry Zambian copper to Beira and carry fertiliser on the return journey back to Zambia,” Mr Jones said.
CFM met last week in Beira with officials from Zambia Railways (ZRL) and from National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).
Mr Jone said the three rail administrations had agreed to contribute equipment, including wagons and locomotives for the express train.
The chief executive officer of Cornelder de Mocambique, the company which operates Beira port, Adelino Mesquita, welcomed the initiative, hoping that it would improve the dynamism of rail traffic to and from Beira.
“If the reactivation of Zambia-Zimbabwe-Mozambique rail transport produces the desired impact, we hope that more operators will send their cargoes by train, thus boosting the southern African economy”, he said.
The plan for Beira port this year is that it should handle 230,000 containers, over two million tonnes of general cargo and five million tonnes of coal from the mines in the western Mozambican province of Tete.
Last year, Beira handled 217,000 containers, 4.6 million tonnes of coal, and 2.2 million tonnes of general cargo. The port can handle the express goods service to and from Zambia without any further investment.
The trains are “express” in that they will only stop between Zambia and Beira for technical reasons such as changing the crew or the locomotives.
