The railway system would consist of several major sections: ; Dar es Salaam–Morogoro Section This section, measuring, was contracted to a 50/50 consortium comprising Yapi Merkezi of Turkey and Mota-Engil of Portugal. Construction began in April 2017. Partial funding for this section, amounting to US$1.2 billion, was borrowed from the Export Credit Bank of Turkey. As of February 2019, 42 percent of this section was reported as complete. In May 2019, it was announced that the current phase of the project is 60 percent complete and that the first passenger trains are expected to start service in December 2019. As of June 2020, the work has been completed by 82 percent. There will be six stations: Dar es Salaam, Pugu, Soga, Ruvu, Ngerengere and Morogoro. Three trains will make daily round trips. ; Morogoro–Makutopora Section This section was also contracted to the consortium that is constructing the Dar es Salaam–Morogoro Section. The line stretches from Morogoro to the capital Dodoma and onward to Makutopora in Manyoni District, Singida Region. It measures. In September 2018, the government of Tanzania secured a soft loan from Standard Chartered Bank, amounting to US$1.46 billion, for the funding of this section of the country's SGR. The stations after Morogoro will be Mkata, Kilosa, Kidete, Gulwe, Igunda, Dodoma, Bahi and Makutopora. ; Makutupora–Isaka Section This section, measuring, stretching from Makutupora in Singida Region through Tabora to Isaka, is yet to be awarded to a contractor, as of September 2018. ; Isaka–Mwanza Section This section, measuring approximately, takes the SGR line to the city of Mwanza, on the southern shores of Lake Victoria. This section, has not been assigned to a contractor, as of September 2018. ; Isaka–Rusumo Section This stretch of the SGR is component of the Isaka–Kigali Standard Gauge Railway, and measures approximately. Construction of this section is budgeted at US$942 million. In April 2018, the EastAfrican newspaper reported that the World Bank had expressed its willingness to fund the Isaka-Kigali Standard Gauge Railway.
Overview
This 1435 mm railway line is intended to ease the transfer of goods between the port of Dar es Salaam and the cities of Kigali, in Rwanda and subsequently to Bujumbura, in Burundi, and to Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. From the lake port of Mwanza, surface water ferries are expected to transport goods between Mwanza and Port Bell and Bukasa Inland Port, in Kampala, Uganda's capital city. The SGR system in Tanzania, in conformity with neighboring Rwanda and Uganda is designed to use electricity to power its locomotives. The SGR is expected to accommodate passenger trains traveling at per hour and cargo trains traveling at per hour.
Terminals
Phase 1
The first phase is all set to be completed in December 2020. It will cover the distance of, from the city Dar es Salaam to Morogoro.
Phase 2
The second phase covers a distance of approximately, from Morogoro via Dodoma to Makutopora.
Phase 3
The third phase will cover from Makutupora to Tabora.
Phase 4
The fourth phase will cover from Tabora to Isaka.
Phase 5
The fifth phase will cover from Isaka to Mwanza
Funding
Up until February 2020, the government of Tanzania has been using locally generated funds and short-term temporary loans to fund the construction of the first two phases of this standard gauge railway project. In February 2020, the government received a syndicated loan worth US$1.46 billion, towards the completion of the first two phases of the national SGR. The financing package has Standard Chartered as lead arranger and the Export Credit Agencies of Denmark and Sweden, as major funding sources.
