PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan is tomorrow expected to officially launch standard gauge railway (SGR) speed train services from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma

Prof Makame Mbarawa, the Transport minister, said at a media briefing in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the launch is expected tomorrow in Dodoma after successful initial runs between the two cities five days ago.

The speed train services involve modernised electrically powered engines and signaling systems, where the government has emphasised the project's significance in fostering economic growth and elevating cargo and passenger haul efficiency locally and in the region.

Electrified train services will stimulate economic activities in sectors like trade and tourism, while production sectors like manufacturing, as well as the transit cargo landscape, will be substantially altered.

When cargo services commence, a standard load goods train will have a 10,000 tonnes capacity, by implication replacing upwards of 500 trucks, he said, noting that the train service is environment friendly and will help the country to save forex reserves to import fuel.

The grid supply of electricity cuts fuel costs to a third compared with operating diesel engines on the same distance, he stated, urging the public to use the new means of transport to speed up business growth in their respective areas.

Masanja Kadogosa, the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) director general, said that for the past two weeks, speed trains carried over 100,000 passengers, with one standard passenger train hauling 1,400 passengers across the distance.

TRC operates electric multiple units that are undergoing a driving test, set to operate as quick service special passenger hauls, in like manner as large rapid transit buses in urban areas, officials say.

The SGR’s entire route will run from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza on the shore of Lake Victoria, as well as Kigoma at the northern reach of Lake Tanganyika, while from Kigoma it stretches to Burundi and from Isaka-Shinyanga Region in will branch off towards DRC and Rwanda.

Construction is nearing completion in the sections up to Makutupora, the next major transit point after Morogoro and Dodoma, while the distance to the capital is put at 460 kilometers (285 miles).