History of rail transport in Zambia: Difference between revisions

From 1964, discussions took place about a proposed railway line between Tanzania and [[Zambia]]. As Great Britain had not shown any interest in the proposal, the People's Republic of China joined in. The PRC government sponsored construction of the railway specifically to eliminate Zambia's economic dependence on Rhodesia and South Africa.<ref name="dependence">Thomas W. Robinson and David L. Shambaugh. ''Chinese Foreign Policy: theory and practice'', 1994. Page 287.</ref> The contractual foundations were closed in 1967, and one year later, the ''Tanzania-Zambia Railway'' ([[TAZARA Railway|TAZARA]]) was established, as a condominial railway<ref>[[:de:Kondominalbahn]]</ref> owned by Tanzania and Zambia.

The TAZARA was built in 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), which was common in southern Africa, but new to Tanzania. The line was handed over to the company as it was completed in sections in 1973 and 1974.

The TAZARA has been a major economic conduit in the region. However, it has never been profitable and more recently it has suffered from competition from road transport (such as the Trans–Caprivi Highway and Walvis Bay Corridor to Namibia) and the re-orientation of Zambia's economic links towards South Africa after the end of apartheid.<ref>[http://www.seat61.com/Zambia.htm Seat 61 website accessed 20 February 2007]</ref>  As of October 2008, a Tanzanian newspaper described the TAZARA's condition as being "on the verge of collapse due to financial crisis", with the operator being three months late on paying worker's wages and most of its 12 locomotives being out of service.<ref>[http://www.thisday.co.tz/News/4768.html "Save the 'Uhuru  Railway' from collapse"] "This Day", Wednesday, October 29, 2008.</ref>  At the beginning of 2010 the Chinese government gave the financially crippled operator a US$39 million interest-free loan to revive its operations.<ref>[http://www.lusakatimes.com/?p=22984 Lusaka Times, Jan 2010]</ref><ref>[http://www.southerntimesafrica.com/article.php?title=China%20offer%20to%20revamp%20TAZARA%20&id=4336&sid=10734e7b7c94be75f0308ca47116c340 Southern Times, June 2010]</ref>