Mozambique: passenger numbers fall in Nacala corridor – AIM

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Mozambique: passenger numbers fall in Nacala corridor – AIM

4:37 CAT | 15 Apr 2020

File photo: O País

The company Nacala Logistics, which runs the rail corridor from the northern Mozambican port of Nacala to the cities of Nampula, Cuamba and Lichinga, and to Malawi, has reduced by about two thirds the number of passengers in its trains, as a measure to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 respiratory disease.

The number of mixed passenger and goods trains on the branch line from Cuamba to Lichinga has been cut from six to four a week, while trains from Cuamba to Entre-Lagos on the Malawian border have been suspended altogether. There are still two trains a day from Nampula to Cuamba in both directions.

A spokesperson for Nacala Logistics, Edson Fortes, told reporters that the number of passengers has been cut by two thirds in all classes.

“To avoid spreading the pandemic we are operating at a third of our capacity”, he said. “For example, in an executive carriage which can hold 54 passengers, only 20 people can embark. In a second class carriage with a capacity for 90 passengers, we now accept about 30”.

This measure, Fortes added, makes it possible to comply with the guidelines on social distancing between passengers.

“At the stations, before they board the trains, the passengers wash their hands with soap and water and disinfect their shoes in a chlorine solution”, he said. “Buckets and soap are available in the carriages, and our workers have an alcohol-based gel to protect themselves after selling tickets to the passengers”.

The companies operating in the Nacala Corridor – namely the Northern Development Corridor (CDN), the Nacala Integrated Logistics Corridor (CLN), Central East African Railway (CEAR) and Vale Logistics Limited, have merged to form a single brand, Nacala Logistics.

According to its chairperson, Wellington Soares, with the new identity it is expected that the group will strengthen its core business (namely logistics for the transport of coal and general cargo), and facilitate public awareness of the group as a single service provider.

Source: AIM