The government of Tanzania is seeking an advisor for the upgrade of the 970km metre-gauge railway line linking Dar es Salaam with Dodoma, Tabora and Isaka.

The total project investment is estimated at about US$1 billion.

Mr Shabaan Mwinjaka, permanent secretary with the Ministry of Transport, told delegates at an infrastructure event in Dar es Salaam on August 26:

"The government has already borrowed $US 300m from the World Bank through the Tanzania Intermodal Railway Project for the upgrading the line." 

Mr. Mwinjaka did not give details about the tender process to hire advisors for the project.

According to the detailed engineering study done by Canarail, a Canadian consultancy firm, the rail upgrade PPP project will involve track renewal to increase rail weight from 28kg/m to 40kg/m.

The project is part of the Government's Big Results Now (BRN) programme. The Governemnt designed the BRN programme to speed up policy implementation in six priority sectors: education, healthcare, water supply, power, roads, resource mobilisation and agriculture.

Additionally, Tanzania Railways aims to improve its infrastructures which are old and do not have adequate maintenance.

The passenger journeys have fallen from 684,000 in 2002 to 500,000 in 2012, and freight traffic from 1.6 million to 200,000 tonnes during the same period.