Tanzania allocates land for construction of new railway institute

DAR ES SALAAM, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian railway authorities said the government had allocated 183.1 acres (about 74 hectares) for the construction of a railways institute dedicated to training talent in mechanical and electrical engineering.

Amina Lumuli, the acting managing director of the Tanzania Railways Corporation, on Sunday announced plans to construct the institute when she briefed a parliamentary committee on public investment ahead of the marathon parliamentary budget session that begins in April.

The institute to be constructed in the country's central region of Tabora will cost 44.8 billion Tanzanian shillings (about 19 million U.S. dollars). The state-of-the-art institute will be training mechanical and electrical engineers for trains for the standard gauge railway (SGR) which was under construction, she said.

Lumuli said plans were also underway to renovate a railway institute in the Morogoro region.

On Dec. 23, 2022, Tanzania's railway authorities signed an agreement with two Chinese companies for the second phase of the construction of the 506-km SGR from Tabora to the Kigoma region. The first phase of the construction of the SGR involving five lots from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza started in 2017 and was scheduled to be completed in 2025.