Railways and Gauges: China's Tanzania-Zambia Story
“The Chinese imported everything when they built the Tazara Railway in the 1970s,” the European diplomat said. “They even used Chinese gauge and tracks. That railway doesn’t link up to the other railways. Other countries getting Chinese-built railways better watch out.”
Was this true? Chinese companies are building new railways in Kenya and Nigeria: should people in these countries be wary?
Not if we can believe Wikipedia. The on-line encyclopedia states that Tazara was not built to a Chinese railway gauge. China uses mainly standard gauge (1435 mm). Tazara was built using the Cape gauge (3 ft 6 inches) common across the former British colonies in Southern Africa. Zambia used Cape gauge in its railway system, but German-built lines in colonial Tanzania used a different gauge: 1000 mm (3 ft 3 3/8 inches).
That’s why the railways don’t link up. It’s a problem constructed by competing colonial powers a century ago.
The railway currently being built by a Chinese company across Kenya is using standard gauge, but this wasn’t a Chinese decision imposed on Kenya. (For more on Kenya’s railway gauge debates, see this link.)
Source: http://www.chinaafricarealstory.com/2016/03/railways-and-gauges-chinas-tanzania.html
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