The government of Tanzania is planning to make a series of investments to upgrade the rail network and infrastructure of its central corridor. The electrified Standard Gauge Railway is intended to create an international route connecting Tanzania’s eastern port of Dar es Salaam, via the Tanzanian interior, with two western branches that split at Isaka. One branch will run to Lake Victoria, thereby offering shipping connections to Uganda and Kenya, and the other will run west to Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This government-led project thus aims to connect landlocked countries to world markets through the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

The Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) is currently developing the first two phases of the railway project, involving about 540 km of railway line between Dar es Salaam and Makutupora via Dodoma, the country’s capital. The Lot 1 alignment crosses the Dar es Salaam, Pwani and Morogoro regions and passes through 7 districts and 42 villages. The Lot 2 alignment crosses Morogoro, Dodoma and Singida regions and passes through 7 districts and 52 villages.