• Tanzania Railways Corporation inaugurated freight service on the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) between Dar es Salaam and Dodoma.
• The SGR is part of a $6 billion strategy to turn Tanzania into East Africa’s top logistics hub.
• The first cargo train carried over 700 tons, marking a milestone in linking landlocked neighbors to maritime trade routes.

Tanzania launched freight operations on its new Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), a major step toward positioning itself as East Africa’s premier logistics hub.

The Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) announced over the weekend that the first electric freight train departed the Pugu station in Dar es Salaam on Friday, bound for the capital, Dodoma. The maiden cargo consisted of more than 700 tonnes of goods loaded in 10 wagons.

The service follows months of successful trial runs involving 264 freight wagons procured from China. Of these, 200 are dedicated to container transport and 64 for bulk cargo, TRC said.

The SGR project is a cornerstone of Tanzania’s logistics modernization. The first 300-kilometer segment between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro has already halved passenger travel time from five to two hours. The rail line is designed to operate both passenger and freight services to bolster domestic supply chains and regional trade flows.

The SGR project not only serves domestic interests, but also embodies wider regional ambitions. Tanzania's main maritime gateway, the port of Dar es-Salaam, is expected to become a key transit platform for land-locked countries in the region, such as Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Malawi.

The SGR is expected to cut shipping costs, accelerate delivery times, and improve competitiveness across the region. Once fully completed, the SGR network will span over 1,600 kilometers of modern track, linking key trade corridors.

However, sustainability will depend on maintaining the infrastructure and resolving interoperability challenges with neighboring railway networks.

This article was initially published in French by Henoc Dossa

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho