A view of the newly rebuilt Sena Line. - Photo: Stewart Currie

The completion of reconstruction work on the Sena railway line in central Mozambique has been extended again. According to the Maputo daily “Noticias”, the Ricon consortium now expects to be finished by November and not September as recently agreed. Originally the completion date was to have been in January, then it was set back to March and later to September. One of the reasons for the delays was the January flooding in the Zambezi Valley, which damaged part of the line, but the current difficulties are due to delays in the supply of material.

However, a subsequent report quoted outgoing High Commissioner for India in Maputo Rajinder Bhagat assuring Mozambican president Armando Guebuza that reconstruction of the Sena line will be completed by the end of September, or October at the latest.

The Sena line runs from Dondo (30km north of the port of Beira) to the Moatize coal mines in Tete, a distance of 545km. There are two spurs, one from the Dona Ana rail bridge over the Zambezi to the Malawian border (44km), and one from Inhaminga to Marromeu (82km). At the time when the completion date was set back previously, it was reported that 437km had already been completed, including the branch to Marromeu, which meant there were only 109km still to go.

Meanwhile price fluctuations on international markets led to the total budget increasing to $US220 million, up from the initial $152 million. This forced the management of Caminhos de ferro do Moçambique (CFM – the state railway & harbours) to negotiate with its foreign partners for $42 million dollars from the European Investment Bank, a sum expected to be available within the next few weeks.

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