Kigali, 09 March 2018:  During the second Ministerial meeting held in Kigali, Rwanda and Tanzania signed a bilateral agreement which aims at fostering the implementation of the Heads of States directives given on 14^th January 2018, regarding the implementation of Isaka-Kigali Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Project.

The agreement was signed by Minister of State in charge of Transport, Eng. Eng. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye, and Prof. Makame M. Mbarawa, Minister for Works, Transport and Communication of Tanzania in the presence of Permanent Secretaries of the two Ministries and Joint Technical Committee members.

The agreement aims at fostering co-operation between Rwanda and Tanzania, to collectively deal with issues pertaining to development of the Project, including but not limited to financing and construction; improving the co-ordination of the railway design in order to achieve standardization within the regional railway network and providing the framework for the Parties to abide by mutually agreeable norms for smooth implementation of the Project.

During the second ministerial meeting, Ministers agreed to review the design of Isaka-Kigali standard gauge railway. They have dropped the proposed use of diesel engines in favour of electric locomotives.

Speaking at the meeting, Minister of State in charge of Transport, Eng. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye, noted that the change in design was inspired by the fact that, “We need to reduce the time of travel and cost of transportation of people and goods between Dar es Salaam and Kigali and improve efficiency for the railway. All that called for the review of the feasibility studies”.

Minister for Works, Transports and Communication, Prof.Mbarawa said that the two governments will collectively review the study after the procurement processes – probably in one month’s time. “The previous study which was done provided that a cargo train would move at a speed of 80km/hr and the passenger train move at 120km/hr. During that study we wanted to use diesel locomotive, but after examining this more carefully we realized that we can reduce on the time it will take for cargo and passengers to be on train. Under the proposed electric locomotive, passenger trains will travel at a speed of 160km/hr while cargo train will move at a speed of 120km/hr,” he revealed.

In the second meeting held in Kigali, Ministers responsible for transport directed Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) and Joint Technical Monitoring Committee (JTMC) to update the feasibility study on behalf of the two countries before establishment of a Project Implementation Unit (PIU).

After reviewing the feasibility study, the two governments will then open bids to contractors interested in building this railway line.

The Standard Gauge Railway from the port of Dar es Salaam to Kigali is expected to cost Rwanda and Tanzania close to US$2.5 billion, initial studies had shown. Tanzania will foot $1.3 billion with Rwanda expected to spend $1.2 billion. The proposed timeframe for ground breaking of the Isaka-Kigali SGR project that will link the Tanzanian port of Dar-es-Salaam and Kigali is scheduled for October 2018.