Dar es Salaam. The China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) has formally committed to completing the TAZARA railway revitalisation within its three-year schedule.
Vice President of CRCC, Sun Liqiang, affirmed this timeline during a high-level site visit on April 6, 2026.
The delegation toured the Dar es Salaam Railway Station before taking a train to Yombo Station to inspect the current state of the infrastructure.
This visit follows the landmark $1.4 billion concession agreement signed in late 2025 between China, Tanzania, and Zambia.
Under this public-private partnership, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) will manage the 1,860-kilometre line for 30 years.
Mr Sun confirmed that the Survey and Design team is concluding its preliminary work.
Final engineering designs are expected shortly to facilitate full-scale rehabilitation of the tracks and bridges.
The project aims to restore the Freedom Railway to its former capacity after decades of underinvestment and operational decline.
The revitalisation effort focuses on critical infrastructure repairs and the procurement of modern rolling stock.
Recent years saw Tazara’s freight volumes drop to less than 500,000 tonnes annually.
This new investment seeks to increase that figure to over two million tonnes to better serve regional trade corridors.
The three-year construction phase is the first step in a broader 30-year operational plan.
CCECC plans to invest $1 billion in track upgrades and $400 million in new locomotives and wagons.
These improvements are intended to eliminate the frequent derailments and service interruptions that have plagued the line.
Mr Sun was accompanied by managing director for CCECC East Africa, Zhang Junle.
They were received by Tazara CEO, Mr Bruno Chingandu, and Regional General Manager, Fuad Abdallah.
The leaders emphasised that Tazara remains a strategic priority for enhancing economic links between the port of Dar es Salaam and the Zambian interior.
