New Limbe-Mkaya Railway due March 2016

Rehabilitation work underway on the Limbe-Mkaya railway
Rehabilitation of the railway line from Limbe to Mkaya is expected to be complete by March 2016, a development which is likely to help reduce the transit time for passengers and goods between the two ends.
Chisomo Mwamadi, spokesperson for the Central East African Railways (CEAR), which is overseeing the rehabilitation, told Zodiak Online the completion deadline which was December 2015 has been shifted to March 2016 due to some challenges.
“People have been complaining that trains are taking a long time to reach their destinations and this rehabilitation project which commenced two months ago will reduce the hours passengers take when using railway transport,” he said.
Currently, CEAR admits, the speed of trains using the Limbe-Mkaya railway line does not go beyond 50 kilometers per hour resulting in passengers traveling more than than four hours from Limbe to Mkaya in Balaka.
CEAR is rehabilitating the Limbe-Mkaya railway line in two phases. The first phase involves rehabilitation of the Limbe-Lilangwe rail line and the second phase will be from Lilangwe to Mkaya, and the CEAR spokesperson said it will be completed sometime next year.
“You remember from Mkaya to Nayuchi we have an improved railway line so this project from Limbe to Mkaya is expected to completely bring an improvement in the railway transport sector in the country.
“The new improved line is safer and faster because we are replacing the old rails with new ones which are heavier and safer,” said Mwamadi.
The rehabilitation work involves replacement of the existing 30kg/meter rails with 40kg/meter rails to improve train speed.
Apart from replacing the old rails, the rehabilitation works also involves improving the drainage system and bridges to counter the problem of wash-aways of some sections of the railway in the rainy season.
Cases of rail vandalism have been rampant and to deal with the problem CEAR is replacing metal with concrete.
According to CEAR it has been years since the railway system was upgraded in the country and now there are high prospects that the repairs will bring a great improvement in the railway transport sector.