A joint venture of Portuguese and Turkish construction firms has been awarded a $1.2-billion contract for a new 202-kilometer, single-track, 1,435-millimeter-gauge railway line, in Tanzania. The segment is part of the 1631-km Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali and Keza-Musongati railway project connecting the country to neighboring Burundi and Rwanda.
Tanzania’s Railway Assets Holding Co.—a state-controlled agency for the acquisition, development and management of railway infrastructure—in February picked the JV of Portugal's Mota-Engil, Engenharie & Construcao Africa SA and Turkey's Yapi Merkez Insaat Ve Sanayi for this first phase, which will link Dar es Salaam to Morogoro. The 30-month contract starts at the end of March.