STANDARD gauge railway (SGR) freight trains will soon start making journeys inland, with 1,412 carriages of various configurations having been imported from China.

Prof Makame Mbarawa, the Transport minister, made this affirmation at an event to mark the arrival of a high-speed train from here yesterday, beaming that the start of speed train journeys will make travel much easier.

Cargo train will be the core business as the train business thrives on cargo haulage, while also increasing revenue and facilitating expansion of economic activities as Dar es Salaam serves as an economic gateway for Tanzania and the neighboring countries. 

“When we start, we will have open access, that is, we will invite other service providers with their engines or coaches,’ he said, alluding at a plan to charge such firms on kilometre rates as well as the tonnage.

This method shall yield more revenues, making port work more efficient, he said, noting that upwards of 40,000 passengers have used the train since June 14 at the start of the Dar- Moro trip.

People residing in Dodoma, Iringa and elsewhere park their vehicles at Morogoro railway station and board the train to Dar es Salaam, he said, alluding that trains are full at 90 percent of average sitting capacity.

Some arrive without tickets and are served, in which case there are two routes instead of one, with two other routes in sight to meet the demand, he said, highlighting that the journeys will involve ordinary speed trains halting at each station, and express trains transiting directly from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro. 

Experts are finalising inspections of the rail line from Morogoro to Dodoma to start organising Dar - Dodoma trips before the end of July 25, he stated, while regional commissioner Adam Malima, who took the speed train at Dar station, witnessed the travel scene.

He hailed the train trip, beaming that it had made the journey easier, vastly reducing transit time, opening up opportunities for wider tourism, reaching Mikumi National Park from the air or by speed train, the same applies to other travel spots in the southern circuit, he said.

Single Mtambalike, a passenger, said that speed train trips had simplified their activities in going to Dar and returning, with business people now capable of accessing city wholesale and other markets with ease.