The South African railway company Spoornet has begun assessing Mozambique’s Ressano Garcia railway line as it prepares to take over this important route linking the two neighbouring states, a senior Mozambique government official said on Sunday.
Spoornet leads an international consortium which last January won a contract to operate one of the country’s most important railway lines on a 15-year concession. Spoornet is currently assessing the line, to determine exactly what needs to be done”, said Transport Minister Tomas Salomao.
Currently, the line does not offer enough security largely due to lack of protection from man’s action. There have been reports of acts of sabotage on the Ressano Garcia line since last month’s train accident in the district of Moamba, about 40 kilometres west of the capital Maputo, which killed about 200 people and injured over a hundred others.
Those acts of sabotage, according to a state from the Mozambique Port and Railway Company (CFM), have so far resulted in at least two derailments involving cargo trains, one about a fortnight ago and the other last Friday.
There was no loss of human life in both derailments.
Salomao admits that the Ressano Garcia line has become vulnerable in recent years. “There have been growing and uncontrollable movements of people and cattle all along the line, which makes fencing an urgent need”, he said. – AFP