The Government of Zambia has signed a USD2.3b contract with China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CECC) for the construction of a 388.8km railway line in Zambia.
The contract was signed by Brian Mushimba, Zambia’s Minister of Transport and Communication and representatives of CECC, in Lusaka on November 2nd, 2016.
The railway line will run from Chipata via Petauke in eastern Zambia to Serenje in central Zambia.
The line will also connect the Zambian railway with the Malawian railway at Chipata, which is the terminus of a 1,067km line from Malawi.
At the signing ceremony, Moshimba said that the railway line will promote local and international trade after its completion in 4 years.
The railway line has a designed passenger carrying speed of 120km/h and a designed cargo transportation speed of 80km/h.
Zambia Railways
In Zambia, railways are the leading transportation mode for goods on the international and local routes.
The Zambian railway network has a total length of more than 2922km, of which 900km are main lines while the rest of the network is branch line railway.
