8 January 2008
Maputo — The rail line from the northern Mozambican port of Nacala to Malawi was reopened to traffic on Monday, after a six day interruption caused by heavy rains.
The rains had opened a large crater in the district of Nampula-Rapale, leaving the railway dangling in mid-air for about 15 metres.
According to a spokesperson for the private-led consortium CDN (Nacala Development Corridor) that holds the lease on the railway, cited in Tuesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias", wooden pillars were driven into the crater to support the tracks.
The line normally carries six goods trains a day. It is used by Malawian companies to take exports (such as sugar and tobacco) to Nacala, and to import goods such as fertiliser and fuel. It is also the cheapest way of bringing fresh food to the Mozambican towns along the line - including the country's third largest city, Nampula.
The interruption meant that goods from the fertile districts of Ribaue and Malema could not reach Nampula city by rail. This led to a shortage of tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage and other vegetables in Nampula markets, and to high prices for those goods that arrived by road.
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