Beira Railroad Corporation

The Beira Railroad Corporation (CCFB) is a railway company formed by a lease from the Mozambique Ports and Railways (CFM) to the Indian Rites and Ircon International consortium to operate a railroad that originates from the port of Beira, Mozambique as a terminal. The 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Cape gauge Beira line is important as it provides port access for landlocked states such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Katanga Province.

History

Originally the Beira railroad already established a connection to Salisbury, now Harare, in 1899 and had been a link in the rail system of southern Africa.

Building of the Beira railway started in 1892,[1] during the Portuguese rule of the territory of Mozambique. First, a 610 mm (2 ft) narrow gauge railway was constructed from Beira to the border city Mutare (Umtali) in Zimbabwe, in total 357 kilometres (222 miles)[2] long and opened on 4 February 1898.[1]

In 1893 work started in Vryburg, Cape Province, South Africa, to construct a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Cape gauge railway to the north, later to be connected to the Beira Railway. In 1898 a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Cape gauge line from Salisbury to Mutare was opened, with subsequent conversion of the connecting 610 mm (2 ft) narrow gauge stretch to Beira in 1900.

In 1905, the railway was completed after the opening of the Victoria Falls Bridge at the border of Zambia.

The 610 mm (2 ft) narrow gauge locomotives were later acquired by the South African Railways[3] to be designated to SAR Class NG6.

Nineteenth-century 610 mm (2 ft) narrow gauge steam locomotives of the Beira Railway.

  • Beira Railway Class F2
  • Beira Railway Class F4 No. 38
  • Beira Railway No. 3 (Nos. 1 and 2 were identical)

Routes

The Beira railway has two major segments, the Machipanda line to Zimbabwe, and the Sena line to the coal fields of Moatize with further connection to Malawi.

War damage

After Mozambique gained independence in 1975, both segments were damaged during the guerrilla fighting in the 1980s when RENAMO sabotaged the railroad.

Reconstruction

Operational activity has been regained on the Machipanda line, and rehabilitation of the Sena line has been completed to Moatize, a town in Central Mozambique, and the first coal train from there to the port of Beira, operated by the Brazilian-based firm Vale, operated in August 2011.

See also

References
  1. "Railways".
  2. Strack, Don. "Railroads of Central and Southern Africa".
  3. Admin, Unwired. "33 106 Falcon 1895 Sandstone".

Further reading
  • Baxter, Anthony H (1998). The Two Foot Gauge Enigma: Beira Railway, 1890-1900. East Harling: Plateway Press. ISBN 1871980348.
  • Cooke, B.W.C., ed. (March 1966). "Inland Through Mozambique: Reminders of pioneer days on the Beira Railway—Rhodesia's ocean link". Railway Magazine. Vol. 112 no. 779. pp. 162–163.
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