Published : 2025-07-14
On July 14, 1976, the Chinese-aided TAZARA Railway was officially opened to traffic.
The TAZARA Railway starts in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in the east, and ends in Kapiri Mposhi, central Zambia in the west, with a total length of 1860.5 km.
The construction team traversed the grasslands, crossed the rift valley, and carved out this major artery of East Africa in a harsh environment. The TAZARA Railway is a landmark and a symbol of China's foreign aid, known as the "Road of Friendship", showcasing the bonds of friendship between China and Africa.
On September 5, 1967, the governments of China, Tanzania, and Zambia signed the Agreement on the Construction of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway in Beijing. The construction of the TAZARA Railway officially commenced in October 1970, and by June 1975, the entire track-laying project was completed.
The TAZARA Railway was surveyed, examined, designed, and constructed by Chinese experts and technical personnel. It took nearly 10 years from exploration to completion, as the railway traverses high mountains, deep valleys, swamps, lakes, and dense primeval forests.
Many areas along the route were remote and desolate, with wild animals occasionally appearing, which increased the difficulty of construction and the complexity of engineering technology.
To build the TAZARA Railway, the Chinese government provided an interest-free loan of 988 million RMB, transported nearly one million tonnes of equipment and materials, and dispatched nearly 50,000 technical personnel in total.
At the peak of the construction period, there were as many as 16,000 Chinese team members working on site, among which 64 people sacrificed their precious lives in the construction of the TAZARA Railway.
After the TAZARA Railway was completed, it became a major transportation artery connecting Tanzania and Zambia, providing a new and reliable sea route for Zambian exports.
The TAZARA Railway promoted the economic development of Tanzania and Zambia and the exchange of urban and rural materials. Many emerging towns sprang up along the line, becoming political, economic, and cultural centres of their regions.
In this regard, former Tanzanian President highly praised the TAZARA Railway, considering it a great contribution to the African people. He said, "Historically, foreigners built railways in Africa to plunder African wealth, but the Chinese, on the contrary, helped us develop our national economy."
