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History of rail transport in Malawi

The history of rail transport in Malawi began shortly after the turn of the twentieth century.

A Malawi Railways diesel railcar, 1984

Transport by rail was introduced to British Central Africa Protectorate (BCA), the British protectorate occupying present-day Malawi, in 1904. Three years later, the name of the area was changed to Nyasaland.

Railways have continued to serve the area ever since, including in the period since Malawi became independent in 1964.

British colonial period edit

Background edit

From the 1890s, small river steamers operated between Chinde at the mouth of the Zambezi and Chiromo on the Lower Shire River, a distance of 290 kilometres (180 mi). However, the main areas of economic activity in the BCA were around Blantyre in the Shire Highlands, over 80 km (50 mi) from Chiromo, and transport to the river was costly and inefficient. Steamers also navigated the Upper Shire and Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi), but about 80 km (50 mi) of the Middle Shire was impassable. Railways could supplement water transport and, as the BCA was nowhere nearer than 320 km (200 mi) to a suitable Indian Ocean port, a short rail link to river ports was more practical than a line direct to the coast.[1]

Shire Highlands Railway edit

Low Shire River levels after 1896 made water transport more difficult. In 1901, the Shire Highlands Railway Company was formed by Blantyre-based investors. It soon obtained a concession to build a railway from Port Herald (now Nsanje) on the Shire River at the southernmost point of the protectorate, to Fort Johnston (now Mangochi), at the southern end of Lake Nyasa, via Chiromo and Blantyre. The first section of this line, between Port Herald and Chiromo, was handed over to traffic on 1 September 1904.[2]

Further construction of the railway was greatly hampered by a difference in elevation of more than 900 m (3,000 ft) between Chiromo and Blantyre. The difficulties were so severe that the Shire Highlands Railway ran out of funds, with the consequence that another company, the British South Africa Company, assumed the task of completing the section, which was finally opened on 23 January 1909.[2] Additional reductions in the Shire River's flow made Port Herald unsatisfactory, so a Zambezi port was needed.

Central African Railway edit

In 1914, the British South Africa Company built the Central African Railway of 98 km (61 mi) from Port Herald to Chindio on the north bank of the Zambezi. From there, goods went by river steamers to Chinde then by sea to Beira, involving three transhipments and delays. The Central African Railway was poorly built, and soon needed extensive repairs.[3]

Trans-Zambezia Railway edit

In the early 20th century, Beira developed as a major port: it was far superior to Chinde, which was severely damaged by a cyclone in 1922. The Trans-Zambezia Railway, constructed between 1919 and 1922, ran 269 km (167 mi) from the south bank of the Zambezi to join the main line from Beira to Rhodesia. Its promoters had interests in Beira port, and they ignored its high cost and limited benefit to Nyasaland or a shorter alternative route to the small port of Quelimane.[4] River transport was practically defunct after 1935. The only recorded traffic on the Shire River within Nyasaland was a seasonal service run by the Shire Highlands Railway for the collection of cotton and other produce between Chiromo and Chikwawa.[5]

Nyasaland Railways Limited edit

The Zambezi crossing remained the weak point in the link to Beira. The ferry used old steamers towing barges between Chindio on the north bank and Muracca on the south bank, and its capacity was limited.[6] For two months a year the river was too shallow, at other times it flooded.

In 1930, Nyasaland Railways Limited was formed. The new company acquired the Shire Highlands Railway and Central African Railway, and made plans to extend the railway north and south. In 1935, the ferry was replaced by the construction of the Dona Ana Bridge (or Zambezi Bridge), over three kilometres (2 mi) long, creating an uninterrupted rail link to the sea. The new bridge crossed the Zambezi 39 km (24 mi) upstream from the Chindio-Muracca ferry.[6]

The northern extension from Blantyre to Salima near Lake Nyasa was also completed in 1935, and a terminal for lake services was developed at the nearby lake port of Chipoka.[7] The government turned over operation of lake services to Nyasaland Railways, who operated cargo and passenger services between ports on the lake.[6]

After the completion of the Dona Ana bridge, connecting the railway sections of Malawi and Mozambique became possible. When the sections were finally connected, the line between Dondo (Mozambique) and Blantyre (Malawi) was named Sena railway.

Colonial railway operations edit

Unfortunately, the Zambezi Bridge and northern extension to Lake Nyasa created less traffic than anticipated, and it was only in 1946 that the traffic levels predicted in 1937 were reached. By this time, motor transport was becoming an alternative to rail, but government regulations designed to promote the use of the railway hindered the development of road transport. All the rail lines were narrow gauge and single track, and the Shire Highlands Railway in particular had sharp curves and steep gradients, so the system was inadequate for heavy train loads. Maintenance costs were high and freight volumes were low, so freight rates were up to three times those of Rhodesian and East African lines.[8][9]

Independent Malawi edit

Upon independence, Nyasaland Railways changed its name to Malawi Railways Limited.

On 17 May 1968 work began on a 101 km rail extension to connect Malawi Railways to the existing Nacala railway in Mozambique, to give Malawi access to the seaport of Nacala in northern Mozambique. The new railway connected to Malawi's north–south line at Nkaya, and to the existing Nacala line at Nova Freixo in Mozambique (present-day Cuamba). The line was inaugurated by President Hastings Banda on 4 July 1970 and began operations on 3 August. The project cost £5.4 million, financed by a long-term, low-interest loan from the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa.[10][6] An extension of the Sena railway, starting from the city Salima, towards the west, reaching Lilongwe and Mchinji, was completed in 1979.[6]

Although costly and inefficient, the rail link to Beira remained a main bulk transport link until 1979 when it was destroyed by RENAMO forces in the Mozambican Civil War. By then, Malawi had its second rail link to the Mozambique port of Nacala. In 1984 the Nacala link was also lost, when the Nacala railway was destroyed by RENAMO forces.

Lake services were separated from Malawi Railways in 1994.

The Nacala railway link was later restored, and is Malawi's principal route for imports and exports today.[11] In 2017, the Nacala railway link was extended west from Nkaya junction to the coal mines at Moatize in Mozambique.

See also edit

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Mandala 2006.
  2. ^ a b Baltzer 1916, p. 158.
  3. ^ Hammond, Newcombe & Carter 1929, pp. 32, 37.
  4. ^ Vail 1975.
  5. ^ J Perry (1969) The growth of the transport network of Malawi- The Society of Malawi Journal, 1969 Vol. 22, No. 2, p. 32.
  6. ^ a b c d e Nkana, Robert (1999). "Malawi Railways: an Historical Review." The Society of Malawi Journal Vol. 52, No. 1 (1999), pp. 39-45
  7. ^ Hammond, Newcombe & Carter 1929, pp. 11–14, 38-9.
  8. ^ UK Colonial Office, An Economic Survey of the Colonial Territories, 1951 (London, HMSO, 1952), pp. 45-6.
  9. ^ A. MacGregor-Hutcheson (1969). New Developments in Malawi's Rail and Lake Services, The Society of Malawi Journal, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 32-4.
  10. ^ Perry, J.W.B (1971). "Malawi's New Outlet to the Sea." Geography Vol. 56, No. 2 (April 1971), pp. 138-140.
  11. ^ J McCraken, (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859-1966 Woodbridge, James Currey pp. 173-6. ISBN 978-1-84701-050-6.

Bibliography edit

  • Baltzer, Franz (1916). Die Kolonialbahnen mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Afrikas [The Colonial Railways with particular reference to Africa]. Berlin, Leipzig, Göschen: (Reprint: Leipzig 2007: Holzminden Reprint-Verl.). ISBN 9783826202339. (in German)
  • Crosby, Cynthia A. (1974). A History of the Nyasaland Railway, 1895 - 1935: A Study in Colonial Economic Development. Syracuse, New York: PhD thesis, Syracuse University.
  • Fox, Sir Douglas; Metcalfe, Sir Charles T., Bart. (1899). Report on the survey through the Shiré Highlands. London: Waterlow and Sons. OCLC 642487385.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Hammond, F. D.; Newcombe, E. O. A.; Carter, E. P. (1929). Report on the Nyasaland Railways and Proposed Zambesi Bridge, 1927. London: H.M. Stationery Office. OCLC 14379881.
  • Hollingsworth, J B (1980). Atlas of the World's Railways. Adelaide: Rigby. pp. 229–230. ISBN 0727003054.
  • Mandala, E (2006). "Feeding and Fleecing the Native: How the Nyasaland Transport System Distorted a New Food Market, 1890s-1920s". Journal of Southern African Studies. 32 (3): 508–512. doi:10.1080/03057070600830474.
  • Rees, J D (1908). Nyasaland and the Shiré Highlands Railway with map: issued for the information of intending settlers, planters, miners and travellers. London: British Central Africa Co. OCLC 681153850.
  • Robinson, Neil (2009). World Rail Atlas and Historical Summary. Volume 7: North, East and Central Africa. Barnsley, UK: World Rail Atlas Ltd. ISBN 978-954-92184-3-5.
  • Vail, L (1975). "The Making of an Imperial Slum: Nyasaland and Its Railways, 1895–1935". The Journal of African History. 16: 96–101.

External links edit

Winchester, Clarence, ed. (1936), "Pioneering in Nyasaland", Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 998–1003 illustrated account of the railways of Nyasaland

  Media related to Rail transport in Malawi at Wikimedia Commons

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