Friends of the Rail Forum

The House also approved the budget for the Ministry of Works to the tune of Tsh4.9 trillion ($ 2.1 billion).

Out of the amount allocated, parliament has approved and directed Tsh2.1 trillion ($950 million) to be spent on the standard gauge railway project, equivalent to 48.1 per cent of the ministry’s total development budget.

The amount is less by 10 per cent from what was approved last year, when Tsh2.39 trillion ($1 billion) was allocated the SGR project.

The Minister for Works, Transport and Communication Isack Kamwelwe said the allocated amount “is to ensure that the first phase of the SGR project which covers 300km between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro is completed within the stipulated time frame.”

He said the rest of the money will be used to purchase locomotive engines as well as passenger and cargo wagons...