TANZANIA Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) managing director Akashabatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika has said there is urgent need to invest in railway infrastructure to complement the road network.

Mr Lewanika said investment in railway infrastructure was the only way roads would be saved from further damage in view of the increasing economic activities which have continued to put pressure on the roads.

He was speaking when the Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Zambia toured TAZARA facilities in Kapiri-Mposhi and Mkushi at the weekend.

He said the rail lines were an important gateway to economic development although that could only be achieved through a reliable railway network to transport goods without delays.

Mr Lewanika said since economic activities in sectors such as mining were growing at a fast rate, there was need to find ways of improving the railway infrastructure.

He said TAZARA management was determined and confident of turning the goods and passenger transport firm around through focused innovation.

Mr Lewanika said TAZARA was an essential facilitator for exports, imports and internal distributor of commodities as well as movement of people within and among several African countries.

He said the company has been facing some challenges in the last 20 years because of dynamism in the local, regional and global economies and the politics and philosophies that had evolved with time.

"TAZARA is coming from a peak performance of transporting above one million metric tonnes in the early days, averaging around 600,000 metric tonnes from the late 1990s to 2006, down to the lowest performance of 300,000 a few years ago," he said.

And SADC diplomatic chairperson, Salomon Witbooi, who is Namibian High Commissioner to Zambia, commended TAZARA for putting up various programmes aimed at improving its operations.

He said the railway company was an important mode of transport which, if improved upon, could contribute to the economies of the countries in the region and ease the transportation of people and goods.

Mr Witbooi with other envoys took time to ride on a train from Kapiri Mposhi to Mkushi to have a feel of the services it was offering.

Other envoys included South African High Commissioner to Zambia Moses Chikane, Zimbabwean High Commissioner to Zambia Lovemore Mazemo, a representative from the Botswana High commission Tebelelo Bareki, and Samuel Munatta the Tanzanian High Commission.