The management of the Moçâmedes Railway (Caminho-de-Ferro de Moçâmedes, or CFM) in Angola has concluded an agreement with granite and marble producers in its area of operation to cut its charges for carrying the ornamental rocks (also known as dimension stones or decorative stones) from the interior to the port of Moçâmedes, the Macauhub news agency has reported. The tariff has been cut from 7.5 kwanzas per ton to 6.5 kwanzas per ton. This reduction now makes it economically viable for the quarriers to ship their products by rail.
The negotiations which led to this deal started three years ago. Part of the impetus came from the provincial governments of Namibe (whose capital is Moçâmedes) and Huíla (whose capital is Lubango). For the past eight years, they have been pushing to ban the transport of granite and marble (as well as fuel) on National Road 280, because the transport of these products by truck has resulted in the accelerated degradation of the highway.
The quarries concerned are located in the Lubango district, which is 253 km (as the railway runs) from Moçâmedes. CFM financial director António Conceição told the Angop news agency that the reduction in the price charged by the railway meant that the transport of a 2.5 t block of granite by rail would cost the quarriers 41 000 kwanzas, while transporting that same block by road would cost 90 000 kwanzas. In anticipation of the increased demand CFM hoped would result from the agreement, the company decided to increase the number of freight trains it runs between the two cities from the current two a week to five a week.
The production of ornamental rocks in Huíla province last year came to 36 168 m3, amounting to 103 298 t. Of this total, 34 334 m3 was exported, accruing revenues of $5.72- million (although this was down from the $7.92-million earned in 2016). The main export markets are Portugal, Spain, Germany, Italy, China and India.
The city of Moçâmedes was named Namibe in 1985 and kept the name to 2016. Consequently, in that period the railway was sometimes erroneously called the Namibe railway. It runs for 860 km inland to Menongue (in Cuando Cubango province) from the port city. Originally opened in 1910, it was largely destroyed during the Angolan Civil War (1975 to 2002), but was subsequently rebuilt between 2006 and 2015. The reconstruction of the railway cost $1.2-billion and involved the complete relaying of the ballast and track. In addition, 56 stations, divided into three categories (designated as first, second and third class – presumably, meaning major, intermediate and minor) were built. The reconstruction was undertaken by the China Hyway Group.
The railway line is built to the Cape Gauge (1 067 mm), so named because it was adopted by the then Cape Colony in 1873. It subsequently became the main railway gauge throughout Southern Africa, including Angola, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as the Anglophone countries.