ABB to equip crucial high-speed rail link in Tanzania

The project is part of a larger plan to link Tanzania’s port cities with interior areas and neighbouring countries to stimulate regional trade and passenger travel in the region and help strengthen the economy.

The equipment will help power two separate but adjoining east-west rail lines – the Dar es Salaam to Morogoro railway line (DSM), and the Morogoro to Makutupora railway line (MDM). The new high-speed electric rail line will replace a slow, narrow-gauge line built more than 100 years ago, which is not suitable for high-speed transport of cargo and passengers.

The project will provide a crucial link between the country’s most important port of Dar es Salaam and the country’s interior hub, which also serves as a vital crossroads for north-south railway linkages. Tanzania, home to well-known game parks and destinations such as Mount Kilimanjaro, largely remains rural but aspires to become a regional transport hub between its port cities and hinterland areas and neighbouring land-locked countries. When complete, the rail system will provide a vital link from the neighbouring countries to the global market via Dar es Salaam and will create a development corridor to sustain future growth.

ABB will deliver a complete engineering solution and most of the key products, such as the substation automation control and protection system and ABB Ability™OCC (Operational Control Centre). The substation equipment and engineering solution will be delivered to Turkish EPC Yapi Merkezi İnşaat ve Sanayi, and the railway will be operated by the Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC).