20 October 2008
Maputo — The first train in 25 years reached the sugar town of Marromeu, on the south bank of the Zambezi, from the central Mozambican port of Beira on Sunday.
According to a report in Monday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias", this is the first test of the 200 kilometre line since its reconstruction. The line to Marromeu is a branch of the Sena line, which runs from Beira to the Moatize coal mines in Tete province, a distance of 625 kilometres.
The Sena line was comprehensively sabotaged by the apartheid-backed Renamo rebels in the early 1980s, and the last train ran in 1983. The damage was so severe (with the tracks simply ripped up over long stretches) that there could be no question of repairing the line - from Dondo (30 kilometres outside Beira) to Moatize, plus the branches to Marromeu, and to the Malawian border, it had to be completely rebuilt. This work is in the hands of the Indian consortium, Rites and Ircon International.
The administrator of Marromeu district, Henriques Ponjesse, confirmed to "Noticias" the reopening of the line. He said that in the initial stage, it will be used to transport sugar from the Sena Company, which runs the country's most modern sugar mill, at Marromeu, timber from Cheringoma district and limestone (to feed the Dondo cement factory) from Muanza.
For his part, the Sena Company's Public Relations Officer, Vita Assane, said that this is a major advance, since it is much cheaper for the company to send its sugar to Beira by rail, than by road. This year about 60,000 tonnes of Marromeu sugar will be taken by rail to Beira for export.
Assane pointed out that, without the train, Marromeu becomes isolated during the rainy season when the roads are often cut.
At the weekend, Filipe Paunde, the secretary general of the ruling Frelimo Party, was in Marromeu. He told a rally that the resumption of traffic along the Sena line will bring a new dynamic in the entire Zambezi valley, and will create new jobs.
The complete rehabilitation of the Sena line to Moatize is due to be completed by mid-2009.
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