30 days needed to repair cyclone damaged railway

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30 days needed to repair cyclone damaged railway

8:28 CAT | 24 Mar 2023

FILE PHOTO - For illustration purposes only

Trains will be running along the entire Sena railway line, which links the central Mozambican port of Beira to Tete province and Malawi, within 30 days, according to the publicly owned port and rail company, CFM.

Parts of the Sena line were wrecked by tropical cyclone Freddy when it hit central Mozambique on 11 March. The torrential rains brought by Freddy washed away ballast and soil underpinning the railway, leaving sections of the track dangling in mid-air.

CFM teams began work in the Tete district of Doa on Tuesday, replacing the soil swept away by the floods, which used to support the railway, and correcting the damage done to the line where it crosses the Chipemberre and Nhavusi rivers.

Interviewed by Radio Mozambique, the director of the Tete Provincial Infrastructure Services, Octavio Simba, said that, because of the damage to the Sena Line, goods and passenger trains are suspended along the stretch between the Moatize coal basin in Tete and Beira. In particular, mining companies that operate in Moatize have been unable to send coal exports to Beira.

Simba added that some of the equipment needed to speed up reconstruction of the line is in Tete city. But using it will depend on the condition of the roads from Tete to Doa.

“We are in communication with other bodies linked to the railway, and we don’t have any immediate indications in terms of deadlines. But we believe that in more or less 30 days it will be possible to resume traffic along the line”, said Simba.

He said CFM is urging the public to cooperate with the Sena Line maintenance work.

“Everybody is involving in raising awareness – the local leadership, the district government, and other bodies which are our partners”, added Simba.

Source: AIM