Amajor railway line that is intended to boost the economies of landlocked Rwanda and Burundi will cost $5.2-billion, a feasibility study on the project has established.
According to the study, conducted by Canadian firm Canarail, the Dar es Salaam–Isaka–Kigali/Keza–Gitega–Musongoti railway project will be viable and should be implemented as a priority project to connect the two countries to the port of Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania.
Canarail senior VP Donald Gillstrom says the project is critical in boosting the two nations, which depend on road transport for exports and imports through the Dar es Salaam port and the Mombasa port, in Kenya, which is the East African region’s biggest economy.
“The feasibility study has proved that the project is viable and now the challenge is for the governments to mobilise funds to implement the project.”
He adds that the project will take four years to implement.
Currently, both Rwanda and Burundi depend on the central transport corridor through Tanzania to access the Dar es Salaam port. For both countries, this is a distance of 1 400 km.
The two neighbours also use the north transport corridor through Kenya to link to the Mombasa port, in Kenya, through Uganda, a distance of 1 800 km and 2 100 km for Rwanda and Burundi respectively.
The railway project, which was con- ceived in 1998, has failed to take off owing to delays in undertaking a feasibility study, which was key to raising funds for the project.
The project is part of the East Africa Railway Master Plan, which defines the railway network development strategy for infrastructure needed to stimulate trade and growth and promote regional integration.