Egyptian National Railways (Al-Sikak al-Ḥadīdiyyah al-Miṣriyyah) is the national railway network of Egypt. Founded in 1854, it is the oldest railway system in Africa and the Middle East. [1]
The featured image for this article is an Egyptian National Railways (ENR) GE ES30ACi locomotive in the Alexandria railway station yard, (c) Abdelrhman 1990and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [6]
The National Authority for Egyptian Railways is one of the largest economic institutions in Egypt and the Arab world, and it is the largest in the field of transport services (passengers and goods). It is considered the backbone of passenger transport in Egypt. Its share of passenger transportation is more than 30% of the total transportation volume at the national level. The Railways Authority transports both people and goods. Passenger transport is provided in: [2]
Luxurious first and second class air-conditioned high-speed trains (all lines);
Luxury turbo trains (Cairo – Alexandria line);
Luxury sleeper trains (all year long in Upper Egypt, and in summer from Cairo to Marsa Matrouh);
Express trains in regular and mixed grades;
Line trains, and suburban areas in the same class. [2]
With regard to the transportation of goods, the authority provides two types of service: [2]
Urgent freight transport service on passenger trains – for luggage, parcels, light transport, foods, newspapers, publications and letters.
Non-urgent freight transportation – heavy goods on dedicated movements supported by the best available traction – bulk and packed grain, coal, sugar cane and its products, petroleum products, iron ore, phosphate ore, manufactured fertilizers, salt and all kinds of minerals. [2]
Egypt claims to have the second oldest railway in the world. It has 9,570 km of railway, 705 passenger stations, 1330 level-crossings, 3500 thousand passenger coaches, 10,000 goods wagons, 820 locomotives. [2]
920 passenger services run each day. 4.8 million tons of goods are moved per year on dedicated goods trains, which still only represents 1.2% of the goods by weight that enter Egypt. [2]
The statistics provided by the National Authority for Egyptian Railways indicate the following: [2]
Passenger transport: 500 million passengers annually (about 1.4 million passengers per day). [2]
Cargo transportation: 6 million tons annually. [2]
Rail network: The total length of the network is 9,570 km. Four-line tracks – 20 km. Double-line tracks – 1,466 km. Single-line tracks – 3,667 km. This excludes railyards, workshops and warehouses. [2]
Stations: The total number of stations, as noted above, is 705, including: 22 central stations; 59 significant stations; 60 medium stations and 564 small stations. [2]
Bridges and tunnels: 885 bridges and tunnels as follows: 511 Rail bridges over the Nile and other obstacles; 58 vehicular bridges over the railway; 157 tunnels under the railway for cars and pedestrians; 137 overhead pedestrian bridges. [2]
Locomotive fleet: 342 German locomotives capacity of 2,475 horsepower; 45 Canadian locomotive, capacity 2,475 horsepower; 30 American locomotive, capacity of 1850 horsepower; 253 Canadian locomotive, 1650 hp; 30 Spanish shunting locomotives, 1,200 hp; 80 new American GE locomotives, 4000 hp; 40 new American EMD locomotive, 3245 hp; horsepower. A total of 820. [2]
Passenger transport: 3500 coaches of which 850 are air-conditioned. Services range in speed from 90 to 120 km/hour. [2]
An EMD G16 used by the Egyptian National Railways: 16 are operating in Egypt Nos. 3301–3316. They were built in 1960–1961, photographer not known, available under a Creative Commons licence (CC0). [4]
The locomotive fleet noted above is outlined in more detail on Wikipedia here. [4] Given the extent of the detail provided in that Wikipedia article, it is not repeated in this article.
Despite the major role railways play in Egyptian transport, the rail system falls short in at least two critical areas: passenger safety and moving freight. The World Bank is providing two loans to the Egyptian government to help the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) tackle these issues. A $440-million loan will support safety and service quality improvements along the Alexandria-Cairo-Nag Hammadi railway corridor, while another $400-million project addresses rail logistics. [3]
Both of these projects aim to reduce the climate and environmental impacts of transport by moving more people and goods from roads to rail — a change that can’t come fast enough. In the Middle East and North Africa Region, air pollution is responsible for 270,000 premature deaths every year, which bear a huge economic cost of around 2 percent of GDP per year. A large culprit of this pollution is transport emissions. In Egypt, the proliferation of private cars, taxis and trucks on the road triggered a 75% increase in transport emissions between 2005 and 2019, demonstrating how rapid motorization comes with serious implications for health and the environment. [3]
Moving freight from trucks to trains
Trucks still move the vast majority of Egypt’s freight, about 96 percent of it. Railways move only about 1.9 percent. Part of the reason is that only three freight trains per direction per day can travel between Alexandria’s seaport and the 6th of October dry port outside Cairo. Capacity constraints on rail, roads, and the Nile River weaken the links between ports, cities, and industrial zones. These kinds of inefficiencies are costly, and improving logistics is necessary to expand trade competitiveness. Further, a lack of targeted regulations distorts the market and gives road transport an unfair economic advantage over rail. [3]
The Bank-supported Cairo Alexandria Trade Logistics Development Project is intended to ease the pressure by co-financing the creation of a railway bypass around Greater Cairo, which will greatly increase network capacity and reduce the competition between freight and passenger services. [3]
The project will also help modernize railway policies and regulations. Right now, publicly-owned ENR is the only operator that can carry freight on the rail network. A new system will change that and allow private operators to use railway tracks in exchange for a toll, which will be paid directly to ENR. By encouraging private operators to enter the freight rail market, these reforms are expected to boost capacity and efficiency across the network. [3]
Together, these initiatives will help improve the rail system and move freight on a larger, more reliable network, cutting transit delays. Egyptian rail has already more than quadrupled the amount of freight it moves to approximately 25 million tons annually, up from 4.6 million tons just five years ago. [3]
Making travel safer for everyone
Ninety percent of Egyptian National Railways’ operations involve moving passengers, and they, particularly low-income riders, will benefit from safer, more reliable, and faster services. The World Bank’s financing will lead to railway reforms that improve the Egyptian National Railways’ (ENR) safety and efficiency to cut down on air pollution, speed access to jobs and services, and make rail service safe and accessible for all. [3]
Typical older, yellow-and-gray train operated by Egyptian National Railways. The train is waiting at Misr Ramses Station in Cairo. It part of a fleet undergoing reform. Photographer not known. [7]
Safety and service quality are driving much of the engagement between the World Bank, the Egyptian Ministry of Transport, and ENR. This includes extensive upgrades to the signalling system along the Alexandria-Cairo-Nag Hammadi corridor, an all-important 763-kilometre railway route that connects densely-populated areas across the country. [3]
But the concept of safety extends beyond hard infrastructure to the feeling passengers get when they ride Egypt’s trains. This involves, for instance, creating a stronger safety culture with a focus on safe operations and maintenance. As part of this, the World Bank is supporting the creation of a database for safety incidents, which will help ENR monitor and analyze incidents in a more systematic way to prevent reoccurrence. The Bank is also supporting ENR’s efforts to rethink the design of stations and level crossings, especially to enhance the “beyond-rail” elements of the design – safety, security and accessibility – utilizing design principles from best international practice. [3]
In parallel, to ensure these initiatives translate into lasting results, the Bank is working with the Egyptian Ministry of Transport and the Korean experts to facilitate local training and knowledge exchange. The objective is to help train the next generation of Egyptian planners, engineers and managers, and to enhance the country’s technical capacity across the railway sector. [3]
Other developments in the rail network and associated modes of transport, including trams in Alexandria and Cairo, the growing monorail network in Cairo, its trams and Metro services are covered in a separate article which can be found here. [5]
This is the second book written by Heather Hurley which focuses on railway history. The first concentrated or the early tramways/tramroads of the Wye valley. [2] A short review of that earlier book can be found here. [3]
In this latest publication, Heather Hurley provides a social history of the lines which served the area between Ludlow in the North and Chepstow in the South – the area shown in the map below.
The area covered by the book. [1: pvii]
Given the essentially rural nature of the Southern Marches, it is sometimes easy to forget the industries which existed in the area and the manifest need, in the 19th century, for the railway connections which developed over time.
This book is an obvious successor to Hurley’s earlier study of the Tramways in the Wye valley. It is “written by a local historian, not a railway enthusiast, who has delved through the archives of 18 railway companies: two were abandoned from the start, four remained open, with another partly restored as a heritage line. Apart from the documentary research, a great deal of fieldwork was undertaken [by Hurley] in the counties of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire, Brecknockshire and Radnorshire, in order to provide important visual information.” [1: pix]
Hurley’s account, “follows the challenges, disappointments, financial gains and losses throughout a period of railway mania and beyond. The account has been thoroughly researched, drawing on Acts of Parliament and tables of tolls, company minutes and accounts, plans and maps, newspapers, journals and books, with contemporary and modern photographs to illustrate the railways, trains and people involved, the enormous task of construction, opening celebrations, and the history of each line until its fate was decided.” [1: pix]
The different individual railways have been well recorded in many publications, but this is the first book to give an overview of the relatively haphazard development of the railway network in the southern marches. It highlights the incredible social significance of the developing rail network during the 19th century and chronicles their impact on the industries, local economies and growing population during the nineteenth century.
Hurley does not claim to be a railway historian, but she has collated, “A richly detailed and illustrated account of the railways formed between 1845 and 1900 across Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire, Brecknockshire and Radnorshire. Unpicking an often haphazard network, the book traces the lines and infrastructure, the stations, bridges and tunnels, the investors, engineers and navvies, and the charismatic steam locomotives that criss-crossed the region up until the 1960s.” [1: back cover]
Preliminary chapters look at:
the history of the Welsh Marches, their industries and communications. The earlier tramways in the area are dealt with in Hurley’s earlier book. [2] Although reference is made in this book to both the Leominster Canal of 1791 and the earlier long-distance tramways.
the arrival of steam powered railways, including: locomotives, wagons and coaching stock; and the work and life of the navvies that built the lines.
Succinct chapters deal with the development, acts of parliament and incorporation, construction, life, eventual demise of most of the railway companies and lines covered, and present day remains (mainly buildings, bridges and sections of the line):
The South Wales Railway and The Monmouth & Hereford Railway.
The Newport, Abergavenny & Hereford Railway.
The Shrewsbury & Hereford Railway.
The Hereford, Ross & Gloucester Railway.
The Worcester & Hereford Railway.
The Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway and The Coleford Railway.
The Leominster & Kingston Railway and The Kingston & Eardisley Railway.
The Hereford, Hay & Brecon Railway.
The Ross & Monmouth Railway.
The Wye Valley Railway.
The Mitcheldean Road & Forest of Dean Junction Railway.
The Newent Railway and the Ross & Ledbury Railway.
The Golden Valley Railway.
The Severn & Wye Railway.
Clearly there is insufficient space in a volume of this nature for detailed descriptions and historical investigations, nonetheless this book is an excellent introduction to the railways of the Southern Marches and a good starting point for any reader wanting to study any of these railways.
It is a well-written and well illustrated social history of the railways of the Southern Marches.
I noticed only a couple of minor points worth questioning in the whole volume:
The Worcester Mile is mentioned [1: p53] as providing a direct route from South to North from Barrs Court Station. I believe that the Worcester Mile ran South to North from Barton Station. [4]
Colonel Rich [1: p156] is noted as ‘the chief Great Western Railway engineer’. In fact, Colonel Frederick Henry Rich (8th March 1824 – 22nd August 1904) was a British soldier, who served with the Royal Engineers and was initially seconded to the Board of Trade as an Inspector of Railways in 1861. He continued in this role after his retirement from the Royal Engineers, serving as Chief Inspecting Officer of the Railway Inspectorate between 1885 and 1889. It was normal for the Board of Trade to inspect newly constructed railways prior to their opening for public use. [5]
References
Heather Hurley; The Railways of Herefordshire and the Southern Marches; Logaston Press, Eardisley, 2026.
Heather Hurley; Horse-drawn Tramways of the Wye Valley; Logaston Press, Eardisley, 2022.
During the early years of the German Protectorate, consideration had been given to building a third main railway in German East Africa. That railway would have run from Kilwa on the coast to Lake Nyasa (now usually referred to as Lake Malawi). Its name in Swahili is ‘Ziwa Nyasa’. [2]
In 1905. work got as far as the undertaking of a survey of the proposed line for 86 kilometres inland from Kilwa before the Maji-Maji rebellion brought the work to a close. In 1907, the length from Manda Bay on Lake Nyasa to Songea was surveyed. However, it was gradually becoming clear that the Southwest of German East Africa could best be reached by means of a branch line from the Mittelland Bahn.
This proposed alternative was intended to follow a route studied by Herr Denninger from the Central Line “to the Iringa Highlands, llongo and Mbeya. From Mbeya the projected line ran to Fife on the Rhodesian border. Thence a branch was planned to the north end of Lake Nyasa at Mwaya and another to Kasanga on Lake Tanganyika. The whole scheme involved some 1,250 kilometres of railway, through very difficult country requiring several rack sections, and it was estimated to cost 360 million marks (£18,000,000). [However,] the cost and the difficulties were too great and the scheme was abandoned.” [1: p101]
Hill continues:
“In 1907-1908 and 1910-1911 the possibility of reaching the navigable stretch of the Kilombero river from the Rufiji, or from Ruvu, Ngerengere, Mikese or Kilosa on the Central Railway, was investigated. From the Kilombero valley it was proposed to extend the line to Manda Bay on Lake Nyasa. In 1913 five million marks was allocated by the Reich for a scheme to make 125 miles of the Rufiji river navigable. In the years 1912-1914 a detailed survey was also made for a metre-gauge line from Lindi to Masasi through the Lukuledi valley with the idea of an eventual extension to the middle reaches of the Ruvuma. … In 1915, there was a reconnaissance survey for a railway joining the Mittelland Bahn with the Nordbahn. The routes examined lay between Mikese and Kilosa on the Central Line and between Korogwe and Mombo on the Northern Line. [1: p101]
Ultimately it was not until after WW2, that significant progress was made in constructing a metre-gauge line in the Southern Province. …. Hill says:
“The ill-fated East African Groundnuts Scheme had its origin in a world shortage of edible oils and fats which seemed likely to continue for a long time. Proposals for such a scheme were first considered by His Majesty’s Government early in 1946. After a thorough investigation and a most optimistic report which paid inadequate heed to several vital factors, including the notorious variation in the yield of the groundnut crop along the Central line, the scheme was approved. It was proposed, within a few years, to bring into cultivation over 3,000,000 acres of land in Tanganyika, Kenya and Northern Rhodesia. Nearly 80 per cent. of the total acreage projected was to be in Tanganyika. The first areas to be developed, at Kongwa and Urambo, were served by the Central line, but by far the largest area planned was in the Southern Province. This entailed the building of a new railway and a new port equipped with deep-water berths.” [1: p267-268]
Hill’s comments about the development and value of the Southern Province Railway can be found here, together with an assessment of how much we can accurately establish about the route of the line. [3]
The line finally opened in January 1954 but was to cease operations in February 1963 (or July 1962 according to one source. [9]) It outlasted the ill-fated Tanganyika Groundnuts Scheme by a few years in the forlorn hope that it would significantly enhance the economic prospects the South of the country.
Both steam (the RV Class/21 Class; G Class and NZ Class locomotives were used) and diesel locomotives were used (the 80 Class, 81 Class and 83 Class locomotives). [4][9] The diesel locomotive classes referred to in the Wikipedia article about the Southern Province Railway [4] and in David Burton’s book [9] are small diesel shunters. If correct, this suggests than main line movements were powered by steam until the closure of the line.
For more details of these three different classes of steam locomotive please click here. [7]
The diesels used on the Southern Province Railway were:
80 Class (later 32 Class) 0-6-0 Locomotives
80 Class No. 8004. [10]
81 Class (later 33 Class) 0-6-0 Locomotives
81 Class No. 8102. [10]
83 Class (later 43 Class) 0-8-0 Locomotives
83 Class No, 8306. [10]
A little more about these 3 classes of diesel locomotive can be gleaned here. [10] Were larger diesel locomotives in use on the Southern Province Railway? One website suggests that they were. [11] However, its illustrations seem to relate to the TAZARA railway and not the Southern Province Railway.
Passenger traffic existed between Mtwara and Nachingwea for which a second hand Diesel Motorized Units of the former Kenya and Uganda Railways was used. [4] The diesel motorized units of the former Kenya and Uganda Railways (KUR/KURH) notably included a small fleet of metre-gauge, 200-horsepower diesel railcars built by Wickham in 1939 and delivered in May 1946. These 58-seater double-bogie units were initially deployed on the Kisumu–Butere branch line before serving on the Southern Province Railway. Two of the class of three locomotives are shown below.
Metre gauge 200hp Wickham Rail Car No. 3, one of the three 58 seater railcars built for the Kenya & Uganda Railways Kisumu-Butere branch line. Works Nos. 2828-2830 ordered in January 1939 and finally delivered in May 1946. Fitted with Saurer BXDL engines, (c) Public Domain [5]Metre gauge 200hp Wickham Rail Car No. 2, numbered 2829 and delivered after WW2, (c) Public Domain. [6]
As the 20th century unfolded another line was to traverse the Southern Province – the TAZARA Railway. This will be dealt with in different article.
References
M.F. Hill; Permanent Way Volume II: The Story of the Tanganyika Railways; East African Railways and Habours, Nairobi, Kenya; Watson & Viney, Aylesbury & Slough, 1957.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Malawi, accessed on 29th May 2026. Lake Malawi is also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Egyptian National Railways is the national railway network of Egypt. Founded in 1854, it is the oldest railway system in Africa and the Middle East. [7] A separate article provides more detail about the history of the railways of Egypt which can be found here. [9]Other articles are under preparation in July 2026.
This article focuses on relatively recent news about the railways of Egypt. …
A. Cairo Monorail Project: The 56.5km East Nile line began operations in March 2026, serving 22 stations with driverless technology, reducing Cairo congestion. A second line, bringing the total network to over 100km, is under development.
B. High-Speed Network: Siemens Mobility is constructing a 2,000 km network, featuring Velaro and Desiro HC trains traveling up to 250 km/h, covering 60 cities.
C. Modernisation: of Egypt’s 10,000 kilometre rail network. ……
A.Cairo Monorail Network
Recent articles about various railways in Egypt include the news that Egypt has just opened a new monorail, 56 kilometres in length.
The featured image shows one of the twenty-two station s on the route. [1][2]
Solomon Ekanem reports that Egypt has officially launched the 56.5-kilometre East Nile monorail – Africa’s longest – marking a major milestone in the country’s push to modernise urban transport and expand green mobility infrastructure.
The East Nile monorail, connects Cairo’s Nasr City to the New Administrative Capital. It is a driverless monorail which calls at 22 stations. It is intended to ease congestion and improve urban connectivity. It is Africa’s longest single monorail line and part of the continent’s largest monorail network when combined with a second line. The eco-friendly, automated system reduces energy consumption by 30% compared to conventional electric rail.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the driverless system on Friday 20th March 2026 and then travelled alongside families of fallen Egyptian soldiers on the monorail from the Al-Fattah Al-Alim Mosque station to the Financial District, passing through key residential zones.
Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir described the project as a “civilizational leap,” noting that it aligns with government efforts to deploy eco-friendly transport systems that reduce fuel consumption and road congestion. The rubber-tyred, fully automated system operates on elevated tracks, minimizing disruption to existing road networks.
El-Mosheer Tantawy Mosque sits close to the monorail, one station of the monorail can be seen beyond the mosque in this image. [1][2]
“The East Nile monorail … is part of a broader network — the “Cairo Monorail” system — which includes a second line linking 6th of October City. When both lines are combined, the network stretches to about 96 km, making it Africa’s largest monorail system overall. In simple terms, the East Nile route holds the record for a single line, while the full Cairo network holds the continental record for total system size. Built by a consortium including Alstom, Orascom Construction, and Arab Contractors, the project features 40 trains capable of reaching speeds of up to 80 km/h, with intervals as short as 90 seconds. The system integrates with Cairo’s Metro Line 3 and the Light Rail Transit (LRT), with future links planned to Metro Lines 4 and 6.” [1]
“Equipped with platform screen doors, LED displays, and accessibility features, the monorail is expected to play a central role in reshaping Cairo’s urban mobility and supporting the shift toward sustainable transport.” [1]
Ekanem’s report is echoed by a report in Egypt Today. [2]
Cairo Monorail was first conceptualized in the late 2010s to combat the rise of traffic in the Greater Cairo area, and to provide a rapid transportation option for suburban residents. The Monorail was also thought of as a rail link between Cairo and Egypt’s New Administrative Capital. “Funding for the project was secured and obtained through a mix of local and international investments. This included a substantial loan facilitation agreement between the National Authority for Tunnels and JP Morgan Europe Limited, as well as contributions from other financial institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The total funding amounted to approximately 4.5 billion Euros.” [4]
It was reported in August 2019, that French rolling stock manufacturer, Alstom, would lead a consortium which includes The Arab Contractors: Osman Ahmed Osman & Co and Orascom. The consortium would sign a 2.7 billion Euros contract to design, construct, operate, and maintain the two monorail lines. Upon completion of construction, the consortium will operate and maintain the network for 30 years. [4]
Hill International highlighted their involvement with the project in a post on LinkedIn four years ago. They were providing project management, design review, and implementation supervision services for the New Administrative Capital City and 6th of October City (East and West) Lines. [3]
B. High-Speed Network: This network is a planned 2,000 km network which Siemens Mobility is constructing. It will feature Velaro and Desiro HC trains traveling up to 250 km/h, covering 60 cities. The network will include three lines:
Line 1 (Green Line): Connects Ain Sokhna to Marsa Matrouh via Cairo. Line 2: Connects Cairo to Abu Simbel. Line 3: Connects Qena with Hurghada and Safaga.
The project includes 15-year maintenance by Deutsche Bahn and involves upgrading 7 key rail stations via Thales, focusing on increasing freight capacity to 13 million tonnes annually.
Egypt has a bold vision to build one of the world’s largest high-speed rail networks. Siemens Mobility is committed to delivering fully integrated, sustainable transportation solutions tailored to Egypt’s unique environment. The High Speed rail project “will span over 2,000 kilometres. It will ultimately connect all the major cities and reach nearly 90% of the population. Once complete, Egypt will have the sixth-largest high-speed network in the world. It will significantly reducing travel times, cutting CO₂ emissions, and boosting sustainable local economic development.” [6]
Siemens Mobility’s 15-year maintenance commitment covers the entire fleet for Egypt’s new high-speed rail network ensuring long-term operational excellence. This network will cut travel times by up to 50%. It will offer millions of passengers safer, more reliable, and more comfortable journeys. [6]
Currently completed to over 65%, the first phase of Egypt’s Ain Sokhna to Marsa Matrouh high-speed train is set to begin operations in 2027. The 670-kilometre line will include 21 stations! [6]
C. Modernization: In addition to new lines, Egypt is modernizing its existing 10,000 km network with new trainsets from Talgo, locomotives from Progress Rail, and new traffic control systems to improve efficiency.
The Railway Gazette International reported in September 2025 that Hitachi Rail has deployed a centralised traffic control system to manage 19 stations on the 200 km Cairo to Alexandria line. [5]
“The initial contract for the programme was signed in 2013, and has since been extended to encompass more than €100m of investment. The mechanical and electrical signalling has been replaced with a modern electronic system, including digital interlockings, new signals and motorised drives. A fixed and mobile telecommunications system has been installed, with drivers able to communicate with the operations manager in case of emergency or failure. Level crossings have been modernised, and technical buildings constructed.” [5]
“The modernisation project will enable Egyptian National Railways to increase the maximum speed of trains by 40 km/h to 160 km/h, reducing the journey time between the two cities to 2½ h. The route’s throughput is also set to grow by 40% to a maximum of 286 trains/day. A progressive increase in the number of freight trains is planned, allowing the line to carry 15 per day in 2030 and 50 per day by 2060.” [5]
In November 2025, TravelMole.com reported that Egypt had showcased a new high-speed train. [6]
“On 10th November 2025, German technology giant Siemens unveiled the Velaro high-speed train in Cairo, which had been specifically adapted to withstand the harsh climate conditions of Egypt. The official presentation occurred during TransMEA 2025, the region’s leading exhibition for transportation and logistics in the Middle East and Africa. The Siemens Mobility Velaro high-speed train is specially adapted for Egypt’s desert conditions. It can reach a speed of up to 250 km/h and offers seating for 489 passengers. The company will deliver 41 Velaro trains to the Egyptian rail network.” [6]
On the same day, “the Desiro HC regional train successfully completed its first train run on newly constructed tracks near the 6th of October Depot, West of Cairo. The Desiro High-Capacity regional train is a key element of Egypt’s new high-speed rail network, with 94 trains set to provide efficient and comfortable regional transport. Specially adapted for Egypt’s climate, each train offers up to 849 passenger spaces and advanced features such as air conditioning,” [6]
“With a top speed of 160 km/h, the Desiro HC fleet will play a vital role in connecting cities along the Green Line. This line consists of a 660 km network connecting Cairo to Ain Sokhna, Alexandria, and Marsa Matrouh. The Green Line is already referred to as the ‘Suez Canal on Rails’.” [6]
Freight – in June 2026, reports the Railway Gazette, Egyptian National Railways signed four freight corridor upgrade contracts.
An Alstom-led consortium has signed four contracts worth €690m with Egyptian National Railways for the modernisation of two strategic freight rail corridors. Together with Rowad Modern Engineering and Concrete Plus, Alstom will upgrade the 6th October City – Alexandria and Belbes – 10th Ramadan City lines. The upgrades aim to reduce transit times by up to 80 minutes and improve connections between Egypt’s logistics hubs and seaports. [8]
In addition to these ‘Heavy Rail’ commitments, Egypt is also seeking to modernise its tram networks and Cairo’s Metro.
Egypt’s major tram modernization focuses on the historic Al Raml tramway in Alexandria, which suspended operations on 1st April 2026. Managed by the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT), the €236 million overhaul converts the 14.1 km heritage line into a fast, digitally controlled light rail system slated to finish by late 2028. [10]
Hitachi Rail has secured a contract to deliver the rail systems and digital technologies that will modernise and upgrade the Alexandria Raml Tram – the first modern tramway project of its kind in Egypt. The contract was awarded by the Hassan Allam Construction and Arab Contractors joint venture and will significantly improve speed, capacity and reliability on one of the world’s oldest continuously operating tram systems. [10]
The Alexandria El Raml Tram is the oldest tramline in the Middle East and Africa, dating back to 1863. Despite its age and limited modernisation since the 1960s, it remains one of the few tramways globally to operate double-deck vehicles in regular service. The new contract marks a major step in the line’s transformation. [10]
Under the agreement, Hitachi Rail will supply advanced signalling and communications systems, a modern Operational Control Centre, SCADA, CCTV and access control, passenger information systems, and on-board equipment. Together, these systems will help deliver a faster, safer and more efficient public transport service aligned with Egypt’s Vision 2030 goals for sustainable mobility. [10]
The modernisation programme includes the reconstruction of 24 stations and 13.2 km of track. Once completed, the new system will:
reduce travel time from 60 to 35 minutes
double operational speed from 11 km/h to 21 km/h
cut headways from 9 minutes to 3 minutes
increase capacity from 4,700 to 13,800 passengers per hour per direction
This capacity boost will ease congestion, support modal shift and reduce CO₂ emissions while improving daily mobility across Alexandria. [10]
The El Raml Tram upgrade represents a significant milestone for Hitachi Rail’s growing presence in Egypt’s rail and metro sector. The company is already involved in key national programmes, including the Greater Cairo metro network, the LRT and monorail systems, and AFC modernisation initiatives. [10]
Hitachi Rail continues to expand its local footprint through engineering, financial, legal and operational teams established in Egypt. The company has increased localisation of IVVQ activities for CBTC systems and developed automated fare collection (AFC) projects that promote high-tech employment and diversity. These align with Egypt’s industrial and economic development priorities.[10]
Digital passenger information and multimodal payment systems are becoming central to Hitachi Rail’s offering in the region. For example, the upcoming Abu Qir Metro in Alexandria will integrate TRANSCITY™ AFC, enabling payments via QR codes, contactless cards, EMV bank cards and NFC mobile devices. [10]
“The contract will see us modernize and upgrade the oldest electric tram system in Africa, transforming it into a reliable, efficient, and digitally enhanced transportation system. The project underlines the capabilities of Hitachi Rail technologies in the rehabilitation and modernization of tramway systems,” Carlo Piacenza, SRS MEA Regional Director, Hitachi Rail, said. [10]
Urban Transport Magazine reported in April 2026 that, “with the closure of the long-established Ramleh tramway, Alexandria is currently undergoing one of the most radical system transformations in urban rail transport in North Africa. The project exemplifies a global trend: replacing historically evolved tramway systems with higher-capacity light rail infrastructure — and the associated trade-offs.” [11]
Alexandria’s tramway network is among the oldest in the world: opened as early as 1863 and electrified from 1902, the Ramleh line in particular developed into one of the city’s most important east–west corridors. With around 80,000 passengers per day and a route length of approximately 32 km, it was a central component of the urban transport system. [11]
At the same time, the system suffered from decades of underinvestment. Low average speeds of around 11 km/h, ageing infrastructure and limited reliability significantly constrained its performance. Against the backdrop of increasing congestion and ongoing urbanisation, comprehensive modernisation gradually moved to the forefront of transport policy. [11]
Until its closure, operations on the Ramleh tramway were characterised by a remarkably heterogeneous and ageing fleet. The core of the services was provided by modernised vehicles from Kinki Sharyo, complemented by locally Tatra Yug units. In addition, a number of second-hand high-floor trams originally built by Düwag in the 1960s and acquired from Copenhagen remained in service. This mix of vehicles from different generations and technical standards reflected both the long operational history of the line and the prolonged lack of fleet renewal, resulting in increasing maintenance complexity and declining reliability in the final years of operation. [11]
The transition to the new system began in early 2026 with a phased shutdown. Following initial restrictions in February, operations were completely suspended on 1 April 2026. Since then, the existing infrastructure — including tracks, power supply and stops — has been undergoing comprehensive dismantling. The complete interruption of services represents a deliberate break with historical continuity, in contrast to many European modernisation projects, where upgrades are often carried out while operations continue. [11]
In place of the conventional tramway, a modern light rail system with significantly altered parameters is being developed. Approximately 13 km of the route will be fundamentally upgraded and partially realigned. [11]
Key elements include:
Increase in average speed from 11 to around 21 km/h
Reduced stop density (approximately 500 m spacing)
Modern signalling and control systems
Introduction of 30 high-capacity vehicles (Hyundai Rotem)
The project is thus clearly aimed at increasing capacity and efficiency, and conceptually aligns more closely with light rail or metro systems than with traditional tramways. [11]
Since early 2026, operations on the Ramleh tramway have been gradually wound down: following initial test closures in February, partial suspension began on 11th February, before services were fully discontinued on 1st April 2026. [11]
In the weeks leading up to this, the network saw something of a series of “farewell runs”, before the final trams ceased operation in early April. In parallel with the closure, comprehensive dismantling of the infrastructure began, including tracks, overhead lines and, in some cases, adjacent urban spaces. [11]
The transformation has met with considerable criticism in Alexandria and is the subject of intense public debate. While the government presents the project as a necessary step towards modernisation to increase capacity and speed, many residents view it as a profound intervention in the city’s historic urban fabric. [11]
A central point of criticism is the planned elevation of the route. More than half of the future line, which will be around 13 km long, is to run on viaducts. Critics fear that the existing tree-lined right-of-way will be replaced by “concrete stilts”, leading to a loss of the city’s characteristic urban landscape. [11]
Furthermore, it is argued that the shift towards a faster system, more strongly segregated from general traffic, may bring operational advantages but could come at the expense of urban integration. Urban planners warn that the new infrastructure is geared more towards throughput and speed, and less towards public realm quality and local accessibility. [11]
Transport impacts have also been viewed critically: even during the construction phase, the suspension of services has exacerbated traffic problems, as replacement services have only been able to compensate for demand to a limited extent. Some observers see this as an indication that, in the short term, the transformation could even lead to increased reliance on private motorised transport. [11]
Finally, the loss of cultural heritage plays a central role in the public debate. For many residents, the tramway is not merely a mode of transport, but an integral part of the city’s identity. Critics therefore speak of a tension between modernisation and “cultural dislocation”. [11]
Reopening is scheduled for the end of 2027. Whether the new system will meet expectations in terms of performance and attractiveness will depend largely on how successfully operational efficiency can be balanced with urban integration. [11]
Cairo’s Metro:–
As of 2024, Cairo’s Metro has 84 stations of which 5 are transfer stations, with a total length of 106.8 kilometres (66.4 mi). The system consists of three operational lines numbered 1 to 3. It is part of an integrated transport network.
Map of Cairo Metro, LRT, and Monorail lines. Thick lines indicate lines in operation and hollow lines indicate lines under construction or in planning, (c) BasilLeaf and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence, (CC BY-SA 4.0). [12]
As the biggest and most densely populated megacity in Africa and the Middle East, Greater Cairo had a strong case for a metro. In 1987 that population stood at 10 million residents, not counting the two million or so commuters who came into Cairo every day to work. The capacity of Cairo’s public transport infrastructure was around 20,000 passengers/hour, which increased to 60,000 after the construction of the metro. [13]
In the 2020s, “Cairo has more than 20 million people in its metropolitan area, and the chaos on the surface can be disorientating for anyone arriving for the first time: gridlock that stretches for kilometres, constant horns, intersections that follow no obvious logic. But beneath all that noise there is a system that organises the movement of millions of people every day. The Cairo Metro — officially the Cairo Metro or مترو القاهرة — is the backbone of public transport in this megalopolis, the first metro ever built in Africa, and the first in the entire Arab world.” [14]
In 2023, Cairo Metro carried 1,460 million passengers, which works out to around 5 million journeys a day — a figure that puts it among the most heavily used metro systems in Africa and the Arab world. For most of its passengers, the metro is not an alternative to other options; it is the only realistic way to cross the city in a reasonable amount of time. [14]
What makes this system distinctive is not only its history but its composition. Line 1 was born from the conversion of existing suburban railway corridors, combining surface sections with a few kilometres of tunnel through the historic heart of the city. Line 2 was a first for the continent: it crosses the Nile through a tunnel, the first railway tunnel under that river anywhere in Africa, a genuinely complex engineering achievement. Line 3, the most modern, was under construction in phases for over a decade and represents the biggest technological step forward in the system, with better stations and newer trains. It was completed in 2024. [14]
For travellers arriving in Cairo, the Metro is an indispensable tool for connecting the historic centre with modern districts, Ramses train station and the main residential areas. At present, the Cairo Metro does not reach the Pyramids of Giza. [14]
The density of Greater Cairo makes any underground construction extraordinarily complicated. Several sections were built directly beneath narrow alleyways, centuries-old markets, multi-storey buildings and layers of pre-existing infrastructure. Expropriations in historic districts such as Khan El Khalili, or in densely populated residential neighbourhoods, required lengthy and costly negotiations. In some stretches engineers opted for cut-and-cover construction with minimal disruption; in the historic centre, tunnel-boring machines were the only viable approach. [14]
The system at present operates trains from different generations depending on the line.
Line 1 still runs sets from the original era — nine-car trains with capacity for over 2,000 passengers, revised and upgraded over the decades. Some were refurbished by Hyundai in the early 2010s. [19] Others are being refurbished by Mitsubishi at present. [14][17]
Line 2 has more modern stock acquired in the 1990s and early 2000s. [18] The National Authority for Tunnels has awarded CAF three contracts totalling more than €450m for the modernisation and maintenance of trainsets on Cairo Metro Line 2 and the maintenance of trainsets on Line 1. [14][20]
Line 3 works with the newest trains, some of them from contracts signed with Alstom in 2020/2021 for the supply of new Metropolis units. [14][21]
Line 4 connecting to Giza is under construction. The line is ultimaely intended to be 42 kilometres in length. [15] A first phase of 18-19 kilometres and between 15 and 17 stations planned, it will connect the El-Malek El-Saleh area with north-west Giza, bringing the Metro significantly closer to the Pyramids zone for the first time. The project includes lifts for passengers with disabilities and modern access management systems built into the original design. Opening is estimated at being in the first half of 2028. [14][16]
Phase 1 runs largely underground, serving 17 stations, from the boundary between Cairo and 6th of October City to Grand Egyptian Museum, Remaya Square, Haram Street, Giza Station, El-Malek El-Saleh and Fustat. Gewaily says that Line 4 will carry approximately 2 million passengers a day when completed. [16]
Four high-performance Herrenknecht tunnel boring machines were deployed for tunnel construction. They commenced excavation at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, ensuring efficient and precise tunnelling under challenging geological conditions. [15]
Mitsubishi is supplying 23 trains for the line, the first of was scheduled for delivery In May 2026, construction of depot facilities and the installation of electromechanical systems. Civil works are being undertaken by domestic firms Arab Contractors, Orascom, Concord, Petrojet, and Hassan Allam Construction. [16]
A Mitsubishi Kinki Sharyo train manufactured for the Cairo Metro Line 4. Phase 1 of Line 4 is scheduled to open in the first half of 2028.The contract includes supplying 184 metro cars to be delivered between 2026 and 2028.The trainsets are being shipped from Kobe, Japan, to Alexandria, Egypt. [16]
The government is currently considering three further phases for Line 4:
Phase 2: Fustat – New Cairo Phase 3: Hadaeq El Ashgar – Hosary Square, and Phase 4: New Cairo – the Capital Airport. [16]
The extended line will provide interchange with the planned metro Line 6, the Light Rail Transit (LRT) network and both the East of Nile and West of Nile monorail lines. [16]
Also planned is an extension to Line 3 to reach Cairo International Airport. It will add roughly 7 kilometres and 5 new stations from the Heliopolis area to the airport terminal. As of mid-2026 there is no confirmed opening date: the project has been announced on several occasions, but financing and timescales are not yet settled. [16]
Line 5 and Line 6 and the long-term network. The Greater Cairo master plan envisages a network of up to six metro lines plus complementary systems including the monorail, long-distance high-speed rail and extensions to the new satellite cities. Line 6 is planned to connect Shubra with Maadi, providing a new north-south axis that takes pressure off Line 1. All of these projects extend beyond 2030. [16]
East African Railways and Harbours was formed in 1949 through the amalgamation of Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours and Tanganyika Railways and Ports. Some locomotives which were ordered by Tanganyika Railways were delivered after the amalgamation. One of the EAR’s first actions was to develop a new numbering system which was applicable across East Africa. “Under the new system, tank engines were allotted Class number 10-19, tender engines 20-49 and Garratts 50 upwards. Diesels, then still only on order, were to become 80 upwards. Similar locomotives in service on both systems were taken together in one class, as was the case with the ED1 (KUR) and St (TR) classes, both becoming Class 11, Nos. 1105-1131 and 1101-1104 respectively.” [1: p70]
After initial experiments with the Giesl ejector from 1957 a large-scale programme was initiated in the early 1960s to fit all post-war main-line engines with this equipment.
Early EAR locomotives:
EAR 10 Class (formerly KUR EE Class) 2-6-4T Locomotives
These locomotives were retained on the lines of the old KUR.
EAR 11 Class (formerly TR ST Class and KUR ED1 Class) 2-6-2T Locomotives
In 1930, the TR received four 2-6-2T shunters (the same type as the KUR ED1 Class). These were designated as the ST Class. They initially had running numbers TR Nos. 11-14, later TR Nos. 103-106. The locomotives were supplied by Vulcan. Under EAR control the locomotives were numbered EAR Nos. 1101-1104. [1: p60]
TR No. 12 was later designated TR No. 104 and later still, EAR No. 1101. This is an ex-Works photograph taken at the Vulcan Works in the UK, (c) Public Domain. [31]
Many of the EAR Class 11 locomotives were adapted to burn oil fuel rather than wood or coal and were still in use in 1972. [1: p60]
EAR 12 Class (formerly TR SS Class) 2-6-2T Locomotives
These two locomotives were ordered by Tanganyika Railways but not delivered until 1950. They were the first superheated piston-valve shunters in East Africa and were a generally updated and modernised version of the EAR 11 Class. [1: p70]
A TR SS Class 2-6-2T locomotive delivered in 1950 became one of the EAR Class 12 locomotives. – No. 1202. It is seen here in its altered form with Giesl ejector shunting at Tabora, (c) Public Domain. [1: p69]
The two engines in this Class were “put to work in the harbour area in Dar es Salaam, from where they were transferred to Morogoro in the mid 1950s and eventually to Tabora in the early 1960s, where they are still in service. The 12 class are the only shunters with Giesl ejectors.” [1: p70]
EAR 21 Class (formerly TR RV Class) 4-8-2 Locomotives
For more details of this class of steam locomotive please click here. [28]
EAR 22 Class (formerly TR G Class) 4-8-0 Locomotives
TR Class G 4-8-0 Locomotive No. 210 (later 22 Class) – these locomotives entered service in1928. Hill tells us that these locomotives were obtained to work two specific lengths of railway – the Tanga Line and the Mwanza branch off the Central Line, (c) Public Domain. [9: p299]
For more details of this class of steam locomotive please click here. [28]
EAR 22 Class (formerly TR NZ Class) 4-8-0 Locomotives
The 24 Class were a larger and modified version of the experimental UR GC Class. [26]
EAR 25 Class (formerly TR MK Class) 2-8-2 Locomotives
The TR Mk Class was renumbered by the EAR to become the EAR 25 class, the eleven members of the class were built by Vulcan Foundry, in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, for the Tanganyika Railway (TR). They entered service on the TR in 1925–1927. [10] All of them were transferred to the EAR.
The eleven members of the Class were:
The eleven members of the original TR MK Class. [2]Vulcan Foundry ex-Works photo of TR MK 206. [2]
This class was a great success and the Class were still in use at the time Ramaer wrote his book, although he notes that they were now on borrowed time. “One problem with the design of the MK was the fact that the leading pony truck provided insufficient guidance on the sharp curves on the Dar-es-Salaam-Morogoro and the Malagarasi-Kigoma sections.” [1: p57]
EAR 26 Class (formerly TR ML Class) 2-8-2 Locomotives
The six members of the ML class (an improved MK design) were built in 1947 by W. G. Bagnall, in Stafford, England, and delivered to the TR. They were later operated by the TR’s successor, the East African Railways (EAR), as its 26 class. In 1952, six further members of the 26 class were delivered to the EAR. They had been built by Vulcan Foundry, of Newton-le-Willows and Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns of North East England and were numbered EAR Nos 2607-2612. [7]
The new locomotives were intended for use on the flatter sections of the Central Line between Dodoma and Tabora. According to Ramaer, these locomotives were still in use in 1972, provided with larger tenders than the MK/25 Class. However, they were “relegated to secondary duties, but their service record proved less favourable than that of the older 25s. They [were] definitely heavier on maintenance and their active life would probably end shortly, together with the 25 class, when both were replaced by new diesel locomotives.” [1: p70]
Former TR ML Class 2-8-2 No. 2608 with Giesel ejector and air brakes, one of the last designs of the TR, is seen heading a goods train out of Tabora, (c) Public Domain. [1: p71]
EAR 27 Class (formerly TR MR Class) 2-8-2 Locomotives
These locomotives were American-built. Many of these engines were built by various American manufacturers, including: Alco; Baldwin; and Davenport. These locomotives were known as ‘MacArthurs’. Those which ended up working on the Tanganyika Railways were manufactured in 1944. [1: p70] and arrived from Malaya in 1949. There were eight locomotives bought in this way which became the MR Class, running numbers 800-807. They were built by three different manufacturers and as a result had minor differences: Alco Nos. 800-802; Baldwin Nos. 803-805; Davenport Nos. 806-807. [1: p70]
TR 2-8-2 No. 802 of the MacArthur austerity class at Tabora in the early 1950s before its conversion to oil fuel. [1: p68]
Ramaer tells us that, “At first there were problems, and modifications were needed to water tanks and reversing gear, which was undertaken at Nairobi works because of the limited capacity of the shops at Dar-es-Salaam. An additional difficulty was posed by the fact that the engines had not been designed to burn wood fuel. Grates were rather small and no rocking or dropping equipment was available. This circumstance gave rise to criticism because of the high ash residue of the wood fuel and only after the locomotives were converted to burn oil was the problem satisfactorily solved. After conversion the MacArthurs by then classified EAR 2701-8, did reasonably well.” [1; p69] The class was expanded in 1950 under EAR control when eight more were purchased from Malaya and one in parts from Nigeria. The last of these locomotives in service was based at Tabora and had been kept running by cannibalising other members of the class.
Early Beyer-Garratt locomotives:
EAR 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt 53 Class (formerly TR GA Class)
Built in 1931 by Beyer, Peacock & Co., these 4-8-2+2-8-4 locomotives were the first Garratts on the Tanganyika Railway. Two of this Class continued in service during EAR years. In EAR days the two 53 Class locomotives “went to the northern part of the now united system, to be replaced on the Central Line by the newer 60 Class, but later they returned to Tanzania for transfer work in Dar-es-Salaam, where they were scrapped in the late 1960s.” [1: p61]
East African Railways publicity photograph of no. 5302 Iringa, c. 1953, (c) Public Domain. [3]
EAR 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt 55 Class (formerly TR GB and KUR EC1 Class) Locomotives
The Tanganyika Railway (TR) GB class were 4-8-2+2-8-4 Beyer-Garratt steam locomotives were originally ordered by the British War Department for service in Brazil, although not built. Later the design was used for locomotives for India and Burma. Four were acquired by the TR in 1946 from Burma. They later became members of the East African Railways (EAR) 55 class. [13][1: p64]
GB Class Garratt locomotive No. 753 entered service in 1948 immediately prior to the amalgamation of the TR and the KUR. [9: p307]
The Garratt locomotives that eventually made up the full 55 Class list were in use on the KUR and the TR. The full list is shown below:
The full EAR 55 Class list: as can be seen 4 of the Class served in Tanganyika, one of which (EAR No. 5505, ex-TR No. 752) is preserved at Nairobi Railway Museum. When serving in Tanganyika before the amalgamation of the two networks, these locomotives were numbered TR 750 – TR 753. [4]
EAR Designed/Purchased Steam Locomotives:
Despite having access to a broad spectrum of different locomotives from the two networks, the EAR was clearly in need of locomotives. It had available Class 54, 57 and 58 Locomotives but these were unsuitable as a base for further development [1: p71] Fuel was also a problem, wood was still in extentives use and coal supplies during WW2 were of relatively poor quality. The EAR decided that it should focus on oil-burning locomotives. Ramaer says that conversions started almost immediately, all EAR engines “were gradually converted to burn oil, a job which was completed by 1955.” [1: p72]
EAR made an initial decision to focus on steam-power for the immediate future.
EAR 13 Class 4-8-2T/4-8-4T Locomotives
These locomotives were probably not used to any great extent of the historic TR network within the EAR.
EAR 13 Class 4-8-2T Locomotive No.1301 as supplied in 1953. [1: p78]
Eighteen of these tank locomotives were built by North British and entered service in 1953. All of these locomotives were initially 4-8-2T locomotives but their performance was poor. They were prone to frequent derailments in sidings. The decision was taken to adapt them to be 4-8-4T locomotives.
The trailing ponies were changed to bogies recovered from old 50 Class Garratts from the KUR which were being withdrawn from that network. At the same time the side tanks were extended and lined up with the smokebox door. This required the repositioning of the compressor and the opportunity was also taken to enlarge the rear fuel tank slightly. [1: p78]
A superb study of a 13 Class 4-8-4T modified locomotive, (c) ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Schmid, Walter / Com_L25-0840-0013-0008 and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [6]
After Class 13, plans were in place for a further Class of shunting locomotive – the 14 Class but none were built in the end as a result of research into Diesel Shunters which could produce a greater tractive effort with a lower fuel consumption.
EAR 29 Class 2-8-2 Locomotives
Along with 30 Class and 31 Class locomotives and the 59 and 60 Class Garratts these were the last steam locomotives built for the EAR.
EAR 29 Class 2-8-2 Locomotive No. 2904 is an oil-burning locomotive built by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow. This photo was taken at the Moshi depot in Tanzania in 1968, (c) Basil Roberts and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [7]
The 29 Class were derived from the Nigerian ‘River’ Class 2-8-2 Locomotives which were built to operate with low grade coal. The EAR version was oil-burning. Crews at times called these locomotives ‘Nigerians’. Two arrived with the EAR in 1951 and a further eighteen in 1952. These were reliable and effective locos with an axle load of thirteen tons and designed to be freight locomotives on the main line. Their performance gave rise to another order for eleven further 29 Class locomotives from North British in 1955. Ramaer tells us that, “These newer locomotives differ[ed] from the earlier ones in that they ha[d] spring-loaded intermediate buffing gear, later standardised on the 31 class 2-8-4s, and larger injectors than the first twenty engines. Externally, they [were] easily distinguishable for a larger smokebox door has been fitted than on the earlier engines. To reduce the weight on the trailing pony truck, already heavily stressed by the big Belpaire firebox, the compressors were repositioned to be in line with the smoke-box door, and in consequence some minor changes had to be introduced to the leading pony truck.” [1: p80-81]
One of the later 29 Class locomotives Ear No. 29 which shows the larger smokebox door, (c) Alexander Leisser and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [8]
Ramaer says that “A point of some concern in the design of the 29 class was the relatively high axle load on the trailing pony, which caused the engines to lean back with heavy trains, with consequent loss of adhesive weight. To remedy this shortcoming, the EAR went in following designs to a wheel arrangement with a bogie under the fire-box, considered by many engineers to be the best possible solution for locomotives with a big and heavy firebox, as it improves riding and, indirectly, eases maintenance. The 2-8-4s thus evolved belong to two classes, 30 and 31, introduced in 1955-6 and built by North British and Vulcan, respectively.” [1: p81]
The 29 Class was ubiquitous across different sheds throughout the EAR territory. [1: p81-81]
EAR 30 Class 2-8-4 Locomotives
The 30 class is heavier than the 31 Class and is directly derived from the 29 Class. It has the same boiler, although adhesive weight is slightly lower than the 29 Class “as a result of the introduction of the bogie under the firebox. The bogie has American-inspired cast steel outside frames and was introduced following the example of the Canadian Pacific type 59 to improve riding. For the same reason, compensated spring gear on the coupled axles was reintroduced following the example of the pre-war 28 Class Mikados. These changes certainly resulted in better riding qualities.” [1: 81]
EAR 30 Class 2-8-4 Oil-burning Locomotive No. 3019 ‘Nyamwezi’ sitting at Tabora depot. The 26 members of the Class served their entire careers in Tanganyika/Tanzania. [9: p83] The Class was built in 1955 by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow, These locomotives primarily served on the Central Line in Tanganyika, now Tanzania, (c) Basil Roberts and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [10]
The 30 class design included a large cast steel tender, running on six-wheel bogies, having a capacity of 1,950 gallons of fuel oil and 7,000 gallons of water. This, with Timken roller bearings [11][12] throughout has resulted in an engine capable of running long distances over the Central Line of Tanzania, on sections with unreliable water supplies, like Morogoro-Tabora. The 30 Class spent their full working life in Tanganyika/Tanzania. [1: p81-82]
EAR 31 Class 2-8-4 Locomotives
The EAR 31 class was a class of oil-burning 2-8-4 steam locomotives. The 46 members of the class were built in 1955 by Vulcan Foundry, in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, for the EAR. They were a lighter, branch-line version of the EAR 30 class, and worked from various sheds throughout the EAR system.[1: p80-82][9: p83][13]
EAR 31 Class 2-8-4 Oil-burning Locomotive No. 3110 ‘Bakiga’ at Nairobi in 1968. The 46 members of the Class served on branch lines across the full EAR network. The Class was built in 1955 and 1956 by the Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le Willows, Lancashire, (c) Basil Roberts and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). [13]
The Vulcan Works Magazine carried this ex-Works image of a 31 Class locomotive. The locomotives were Vulcan Foundry Works Nos. 2576, 2578-81 and 2583 & 84. [14]
The Vulcan Foundry magazine notes that these engines were designed for the lightest tracks on the EAR network: “The locomotives are required for universal use throughout East Africa, but in the first place are to be placed for duty in Kenya and Uganda. All are oil fired and forty-one have Westinghouse brakes, the other five being dual fitted with Westinghouse and Vacuum Brake Equipment, so that they will be available for service in Tanganyika when required. The locomotives will negotiate with ease, curves of 330ft radius, with 0.5in gauge widening and also I in 7.5 turnouts (equivalent to a curve of 350ft radius without gauge widening) and are suitable for operating on 3% gradients. … As on all recent East African orders, the locomotives are so arranged that they can be converted to 36in gauge in accordance with requirements for the future standardisation of the East African Railways. For the same reason the dragboxes [15][16] have been made to suit both the MCA Coupler (as fitted) and the Knuckle type Coupler. Wherever possible, detail parts have been made interchangeable with the “29” and “30” classes, but a smaller boiler and slightly smaller cylinders have been provided.” [14]
Later Beyer Garratt Locomotives:
EAR 57 and 58 Class
These locomotives were not used in Tangayika/Tanzania. For more detail, please click here. [17]
EAR 59 Class
The axle loads of these locomotives were too high for the relatively light rail used in Tanganyika/Tanzania. They were used, as intended, on the old KUR network. For more detail, please click here. [17]
EAR 60 Class
Introduced in 1953, these 4-8-2+2-8-4 locomotives were used extensively on the Central Line between Dar -es-Salaam and Morogoro
Class 60 Garratt 4-8-2+2-8-4 locomotive No. 6019 at Tabora depot, Tanzania, in 1968. [5]
The EAR 60 class, also known as the Governor class, was built for the EAR as a development of the EAR’s earlier 56 class. The 29 members of the 60 class were ordered by the EAR from Beyer, Peacock & Co. The first 12 of them were built by sub-contractors Société Franco-Belge in Raismes (Valenciennes), France, and the rest were built by Beyer, Peacock in Gorton, Manchester. The class entered service in 1953-54. Initially, all members of the class carried the name of a Governor (or equivalent) of Kenya, Tanganyika or Uganda, but later all of the Governor nameplates were removed. [5]
Initially, the first locomotives were ordered as an extension to the 56 Class – 5607 – 5618. Compared with the 56 Class, the Franco-Belge locomotives had more water and less oil capacity. It was only just before delivery that it was decided to classify them separately. As we have noted, the remainder of the Class was built in the UK by Beyer-Peacock. Raemer reports:
“With an axle load of only eleven tons, the 60 class is, with the 55 and 56 classes, the standard light Garratt on the system, taking all the lighter mixed traffic. It was on one of these engines, No 6029, that the first test with the Giesl ejector was made, No 5805 following suit. Today, all 60s have this equipment. Originally the 60 class carried the names of the Governors of Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda, but later the nameplates were removed. At present, [1972] only No. 6001 still carries a name Umoja (Unity). They are straightforward engines, with the well-tried Belpaire firebox, a working pressure of 200lb/sq in and 16×24in cylinders, developing a tractive effort of 43,520lb. They, too, have roller bearings on all axles, but somewhat surprisingly plate frames of wartime origin were retained, like the 55 and 56 classes. Although the 60s are quite good engines, they never came came up to the level of the 56s, especially where the free steaming quality of the boilers is concerned.” [1: p78]
EAR Diesel Locomotives used in Tanganyika/Tanzania
I have written extensively on the various Diesel locomotives used on the EAR network, for more detail, please click here. [18] The EAR operated a progressive fleet of diesel locomotives in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) starting in the 1950s, featuring key classes such as the 83, 84 & 85 Class hydraulic shunters and later mainline diesel-electrics.
There were a significant number of different diesel locomotive classes on the EAR , but records that I have come across do not specify which of these locos were stabled at which depots. It is difficult in many cases, to be sure which classes of loco were used on the lines in Tanganyika/Tanzania. The fleet included:
32 Class (previously 80 Class): please see notes below about the 80 Class locos.
33 Class (previously 81 Class): please see notes below about the 81 Class locos.
34 Class (previously 82 Class): please see notes below about the 82 Class locos.
35 Class: Andrew Barclay 0-6-0 locomotives.
61 Class: These locomotives were supplied by the German manufacturer Henschel & Son.
71 Class (previously 91 Class) Diesel-Electric Locomotives: supplied by English Electric.
72 Class (previously 92 Class) Diesel-Electric Locomotives: supplied by English Electric.
79 Class Locomotive: only one of these locomotives was built.
80 Class (later 32 Class):
81 Class (Later 33 Class): Supplied by the Drewry Car Co., these versatile internal combustion locomotives handled secondary and transfer tasks during the early phase of internal combustion transition.
82 Class (Later 34 Class):
83, 84, 85 & 86 Classes (Later 43, 44, 45 & 46 Classes): Introduced from 1955 onwards, these light and medium diesel-hydraulic locomotives (built by manufacturers like Hunslet, Andrew Barclay, and North British Locomotive Company) took over shunting and lighter duties on the Tanganyika Central Line.
86 Class (later 46 Class):
90 Class (later 87 Class) English Electric types: from around 1960, powerful diesel-electric units gradually supplemented and replaced heavy steam power (like the 30 and 60 classes) on main trunk routes connecting Dar-es-Salaam, Tabora, and Kigoma. Dieselization in Tanganyika in the late 1950s and 1960s dealt a blow to the continued use of steam-power as they were more effective on handling steep gradients and overcame water scarcity issues inherent to steam operations across the territory.
91 Class (later 71 Class) Diesel-Electric Locomotives: supplied by English Electric
88 & 92 Class Canadian supplied Diesel Electric locomotives, of which there were 20 No. 88 Class and 15 No. 92 Class locomotives.
More about each Class of Diesel Locomotive
A little more information about each of these classes of diesel locomotive can be found in the paragraphs below. For more information and more images than are included in this article please click here. [18]
EAR 35 Class Locomotives
These were Andrew Barclay 0-6-0 diesel shunters.
The EAR 35 Class of 0-6-0 shunters had a cast list of at least eight. This is EAR No. 3508. The photographer is not known. [18]
EAR 43 Class (originally 83 Class) Locomotives
These locos were built by the North British Locomotive Company.
EAR 83 Class 0-8-0 Locomotive, EAR No. 8306. The photographer is not known. [18]
EAR 44 Class (originally 84 Class) Locomotives
This 0-8-0 class was also built by the North British Locomotive Company.
EAR 84 Class 0-8-0 Locomotive, EAR No. 8401. The photographer is not known. [18]
EAR 45 Class (originally 85 Class) Locomotives
Still another North British 0-8-0 class of loco.
EAR 85 Class 0-8-0 Locomotive, EAR No. 8504. The photographer is not known. [18]
EAR 46 Class (originally 86 Class) Locomotives
The 46 Class (originally 86 Class) 0-8-0 central cab locos were built for the EAR by Andrew Barclay Sons & Co.
EAR 86 Class 0-8-0 Locomotive, EAR No. 8619. The photographer is not known. [18]
EAR 61 Class Locomotives
Once the decision had been taken not to build a new class of Beyer Garratt locomotives which would have been 61 Class locomotives. The Class number was used for a series of Henschel-built Bo-Bo shunters.
61 Class Henschel-built Bo-Bo shunting locomotive, EAR No. 6107, photographer not known. [18]
EAR 71 Class (previously 91 Class) Locomotives
See the 91 Class below.
EAR 72 Class (previously 92 Class) Locomotives
The East African Railways (EAR) 72 Class consists of 10 diesel-electric locomotives built by English Electric at the Vulcan Works in Newton-le-Willows in 1971 and 1972. They featured a 1-Bo-Bo-1 wheel arrangement and a 1,240 horsepower rating tailored for lightweight tracks across the whole EAR network. For more details about this locomotive please click here. [24]
EAR 72 Class (previous 92 Class) Locomotive No. 7209, photographer not known. [18]
79 Class Locomotive
Only one of these Co-Co locomotives was built. No. 7901 was supplied as an experimental type by AEI Lister-Blackmore. Looking at the export market in the late 1950s British Tomson-Houston (BTH), with Clayton and Lister-Blackstone commissioned the Explorer CM-gauge prototype, which was ready in 1959. This featured a Lister-Blackstone engine, BTH electrical equipment and mechanical parts by established partner Clayton. [25]
EAR 79 Class Locomotive No. 7901, photographer not known. [18]
80 Class (later 32 Class)
The Class 80/32 0-6-0 locos were built for the EAR by John Fowler & Co Engineers of Leathley Road, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire.
[18]
81 Class (Later 33 Class)
Supplied by the Drewry Car Co., these versatile internal combustion locomotives handled secondary and transfer tasks during the early phase of internal combustion transition.
[18]
82 Class (Later 34 Class)
[18]
83, 84 & 85 Classes (Later 43, 44 & 45 Classes)
Introduced from 1955 onwards, these light and medium diesel-hydraulic locomotives (built by manufacturers like Hunslet, Andrew Barclay, and North British Locomotive Company) took over shunting and lighter duties on the Tanganyika Central Line. Please see 43, 44 and 45 Classes above.
86 Class (later 46 Class)
Please see the 46 Class above.
EAR 88 Class Locomotives
There were 20 diesel-electric locomotives built by the Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) in this Class. These were lighter weight versions of the 92 Class. These locomotives had a 1-Co-Co-1 wheel arrangement and were designed to handle intense tractive effort demands across the challenging terrain of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
EAR 88 Class Locomotive built by Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). These locomotives worked across the whole EAR network, photographer not known. [18]
EAR 90 Class (later Class 87) Locomotives
There were 44 of this Class built by English Electric by the end of the 1960s. They worked across the whole EAR network.
Masai tribesmen inspect an English Electric-AEI Class 90 diesel electric loco, East African Railways No. 9007, 1960. This image was shared on the Commonwealth Heritage Forum on Facebook on 6th October 2023. [19]
Some notes about English Electric Twelve cylinder diesels and the EAR 90 class written by Steve Palermo: [20]
“EE generally designed locomotives to meet individual railway requirements, using standard components. Nevertheless, established designs were often adapted for other customers, and this is apparent in the 12-cylinder sequence, which accordingly could be described as being a series of quasi-standard locomotives. A greater degree of standardization is apparent in EE’s sequence of 6-cylinder models, though.
“The list of EE 12-cylinder models, in chronological order of first appearance, is:
1. Queensland Railways (QR) 1200 class, 10 built. 2. New Zealand Railways (NZR) Df class, 10 built 3. Malayan Railways (KTM) 20 class, 26 built 4. QR 1250 class, the first EE Australia variant, 17 built 5. Sudan Railways 1000 class, 65 built 6. East African Railways 90 (later 87) class, 44 built 7. British Railways (BR) 37 class, 309 built 8. Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) C class, 3 built 9. Rhodesian Railways DE3 class, 16 built 10. QR 1270 class, 30 built 11. WAGR K class, also Goldsworthy Mining A class, 17 built 12. QR 1300 class, 45 built 13. WAGR R and RA classes, 18 built 14. AIS D34 class, 1 built 15. Ghana Railways & Harbours 1851 class, 16 built 16. Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) Z class, 4 built 17. QE 2350 class, 16 built 18. TGR ZA class, 6 built
“The total number of EE 12-cylinder locomotives built was thus 653, of which 496 were of UK origin, and 157 came from Australia. …
“BR, with 309 of its 37 class, was the biggest user of EE 12-cylinder models. Next came QR, with a total of 118 spread over 5 basic models, although there were subvariants. QR was also the first operator to buy 12-cylinder EE locomotives, so are more detailed study of the group logically starts with the QR 1200 class, which then conveniently links to both the later UK and the Australian models. At least basic information on most classes is reasonably available, and of course the BR 37 has been the subject of many treatments in the literature.
“The EAR 90 class was the second English Electric 12CSVT-engined model to be delivered, but the first to be ordered. The initial order, for 8 units was announced in October 1958, and an increase to 10 units was announced in March 1959. This was EARH’s first order for line-service diesel locomotives. A 13.5 ton maximum axle loading was imposed, to enable the locomotives to work northwest of Nairobi to Nakuru and Kampala [and elsewhere on the EAR network], as well as between Mombasa and Nairobi, which section alone would have allowed a higher axle loading. This axle loading constraint required a multi-axle design, as it is unlikely that EE could have built a compliant 12-cylinder Co-Co model. Unsurprisingly, EE used a 1-Co-Co-1 wheel arrangement. The resulting locomotive was largely a new design, although it included features drawn from the QR 1250 class (body style and general layout) and the Rhodesian Railways (RR) 16-cylinder DE2 class (running gear and in-frame fuel tank). What it was not, though, was simply a 1-Co-Co-1 variant of the QR 1250 with 12CSVT in place of 12SVT engine.
“Nevertheless, the QR 1250 makes a useful yardstick for comparison purposes. The EARH 90, at 51’0″ over headstocks, was a little longer than the QR 1250, at 49’6”. This extra length was most likely required to accommodate the more complex running gear, although it probably also gave a bit more space to accommodate the dynamic braking unit and a higher capacity cooling group. The total wheelbase was 41’6″, as compared with 40’0″ for the QR 1250. The equipment layout for the most part followed established EE practice. The nose compartment housed the leading bogie traction motor blower, which was motor-driven. The T-shaped main equipment cubicle was immediately behind the cab; then came the dynamic braking unit, which was mounted high & just below the cantrail – with a crosswise orientation, fan-shaft horizontal. Then came the generators, the engine, followed by the radiator compartment with mechanically-driven vertical-shaft fan, and finally the rear-compartment, housing the air compressor, mechanically-driven from the radiator fan gearbox, and the trailing bogie traction motor blower.
“The running gear was based upon that of the RR DE2, which had proved successful in service. Thus, the bogie frames were one-piece castings by Henricot. Because the EARH 90 was shorter, the axle spacings were all reduced by 6 inches. Each bogie had an overall wheelbase of 17’6″, with a rigid wheelbase of 12’0″ equally distributed, and the two inner bogie axles were separated by 6’6″. The pivot centres, placed between the pilot and outer driving axles, were 37’10” apart. Consistent with EE’s thinking about maximizing the advantages obtainable from the 1-Co-Co-1 wheel arrangement where it was necessary to use same, the axle spacings were chosen to obtain maximum bending moment relief, so reducing vertical railhead forces. As this required relatively close coupling of the bogies, a conventional suspended fuel tank was precluded, hence the use of an in-frame fuel tank, an EE feature that went back at least as far as the New Zealand Railways De class. The main bogies were interconnected by a lateral spring control mechanism that helped ensure optimum wheel flange angles in curves, so reducing lateral railhead forces. One way of looking at this is that the coupling allowed the leading bogie to pilot the trailing bogie into curves, the leading bogie itself being guided by its own pilot truck. Wheel diameters were the same as on the DE2, namely 28½” pilot and 37½” driving. The main bogies had three-point load transfer from the mainframe, with a resiliently mounted pivot between the pilot axle and the outer driving axle, and a pair of coil spring bearers between the centre and inner driving axles. Equalization for each bogie was continuous from pilot truck axle to inner driving axle. This was a change from the DE2 bogie, which was equalized in two groups, although the casting did make provision for full equalization should it have been required. As with the DE2, the driving axle springs were of the leaf type interconnected by equalizing bars, but at the fixed attachment points, rubber bushes were used in place of the auxiliary coil springs used on the DE2. All three traction motors on each bogie faced outwards, consistent with high-adhesion bogie practice. EE claimed that this bogie design virtually eliminated intra-bogie weight transfer, whilst the wide pivot spacing minimized inter-bogie weight transfer. I have never seen the benefit quantified in the same way that EE Australia did for its high-adhesion Co bogie first used on the Western Australia Government Railways R class, but taking the latter as indicative, EE’s view could well have been that a 1-Co-Co-1 locomotive with 81 tons adhesive weight would for practical purposes match a similarly-powered 90 ton Co-Co with more-or-less conventional bogies, whilst offering lower dynamic railhead forces as well as (fairly obviously) lower static railhead forces. EE certainly made much of the capabilities of it own-design 1-Co-Co-1 running gear (here one needs to be careful to exclude the non-EE design bogie that it was forced to use, against its better judgement, for the British Rail 40 class) and noted that its good performance had been verified by the railway administrations using it.
“The 12CSVT Mk II engine had three manually adjustable governor power settings that allowed optimization for altitude, bearing in mind that the route embraced the range from sea level to 9136 ft elevation. 1840 hp (gross) was available up to 5500 ft, 1800 hp up to 7800 ft, and 1775 hp up to 9136 ft. One assumes that the settings were chosen according to which part of the EARH system the locomotives were assigned. The main generator was the EE822 model, and the six traction motors were the new EE537 4-pole model, connected in permanent series-parallel (2S3P) with two stages of field weakening. I have not been able to verify the gear ratio, but most probable was 72:15, fairly standard for the EE537 motor. The 45 mile/h maximum service speed would not have required faster gearing. The overhung auxiliary generator, model number unknown, was of 48 kW capacity.
“The EARH 90 was fitted with the by-now standard EE air-throttle control system, with the EE governor and the new hydraulically operated load regulator. The two driving stations were fitted with EE’s then-standard two-lever control stands. The throttle lever also operated the dynamic brake according to the standard EE 3-notch protocol. The main driving station was on the right hand side. There was a second driving station on the left-hand side, but this was not diagonally opposite and reversed as might have been expected. Rather it seems to have been arranged to allow bidirectional operation during shunting operations.
“The braking system was air for the locomotive and train, EARH being an air-braked road. However, the design made provision for the retrofitting of vacuum train brake equipment if required. At the time, it was evidently still thought possible that the EARH system would be converted from metre to Cape gauge to align with the rest of Southern Africa. The same conversion would also have required a (retrograde) change from air to vacuum brakes, the latter being the Southern African standard, with at least a period of dual-braking capability being required. One can wonder how vacuum brakes would have performed at 9000 ft altitude. Also, it is not immediately apparent as to where the vacuum exhausters would have been accommodated on the 90 class, bearing in mind that both the large compressor and the dynamic braking equipment would have been retained. Perhaps EE was thinking in terms of using a combined exhauster-compressor unit in place of the air compressor.
“I have not been able to find definitive information about the type of air braking system fitted to the EARH 90 class, other than that the initial batch had Westinghouse UK equipment. Had an American-type “schedule” system been fitted, most likely it would have been noted in the trade press descriptions. So more likely is that the braking system followed British precepts, with physically separate driver’s valves for independent and train brake control, and an electrically operated. independent-release-after-automatic-application function. Certainly EARH did not have a history of using schedule systems on its steam locomotives, late examples of which were fitted with Westinghouse No. 4 automatic brake valves and Gresham & Craven Mk IV locomotive steam brake valves. The layout diagrams show that the two driver’s brake valves are somewhat separated, with that for the automatic brake being to the driver’s right, and that for the independent brake a little to the left, ahead of the control stand. Clasp brakes were fitted to the driving wheels, withy one brake cylinder per wheel. The pony truck wheels were unbraked.
“Another unknown is the electrical capacity of the dynamic brake unit. For the second series, the peak braking effort is shown as 30 000 lbf at approximately 21 mile/h, which suggests around 1200 kW. The second series is said to have had a greater dynamic braking range than the first series, so it is possible the latter had a smaller capacity unit. As described, it is stated that the locomotive brake is interlocked with the dynamic brake so that both cannot be applied simultaneously. A literal interpretation suggests that the 90 was fitted with a conventional lockout system. But if so, it was a departure from established EE practice. In its previous diesel-electric locomotive dynamic braking installations, EE had used an anti-compounding system, in which the dynamic brake was released if locomotive brake cylinder pressure reached a predetermined level, typically 23 lbf/in².
“The EAR 90 was equipped for multiple unit operation. There was a central EE elbow-style jumper socket at each end on the front sheet, along with three “plug-in” hose connections arranged in a triangle. Most probably these were for respectively main reservoir, engine speed control and independent brake. The 90 was MU compatible with the later and smaller EE-built 91 (71) and 72 classes, but beyond that EAR did not seem to be concerned to establish a single common MU standard. Later diesel locomotives from other builders were equipped with control and MU systems that were more-or-less their respective builder’s standards.
Notwithstanding the 13.5 tons axle loading specification, the first series were built to a slightly lower 12.8 tons number, giving an adhesive weight of 76.8 tons. The total weight was 97.5 tons. The continuous tractive effort is consistently quoted as 44 500 lbf, although there is some variety in the corresponding minimum continuous speed, which is variously reported as 11.5, 11.7 and 12¼ mile/h. The top speed is usually reported as 45 mile/h, but this would have been a track limited speed, as the expected 72:15 gearing would have allowed 60 mile/h, and there is no reason why the running gear would not have accommodated this on suitable track.” [20]
EAR 90 Class Locomotive on an East African 70c Stamp, issued on 5th April 1971; size: 44 x 28 mm; designer: Rena Fennessy; printers: Harrison & Sons Ltd. [21]
EAR 91 Class (later 71 Class) Class Locomotives
Built in 1967/1968, these locomotives were powered by an 8CSVT MkII engine with 1350hp for traction and weighed 68 tons. 10 were built. two batches of 10. In 1971-72, another 10 similar, but slightly heavier, units arrived, and were denoted the 92 class (later known as the 72 class). All were used in branch line service. These had a 1-Bo-Bo-1 a drawing of the side elevation of these locomotives can be seen here. [23]
EAR 91 Class (later 71 Class) locomotive No. 9101, photographer not known. [18]
Original EAR 92 Class Locomotives
See 72 Class above.
EAR 92 Class Locomotives
There were 15 locomotives in the Class. They were Canadian-built 1-Co-Co-1 diesel-electric locomotives manufactured by Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) – heavier versions of the 88 Class! They were not suitable for the lighter rails in Tanganyika/Tanzania.
EAR 92 Class: These locomotives were purchased specifically for work only on the line West from Mombasa.
In this image the locomotive is in charge of a rake of empty tanks heading for Mombasa. [22]
Other locomotives in Tanzania
The Tazara Line operated independently from the metre-gauge network in Tanzania. It will be covered in another article. Writing in 2026, I am aware of the progress being made in Tanzania to develop a standard-gauge railway network. This too will be the subject of a future article.
References
R. Ramaer; Steam Locomotives of the East African Railways; David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1974.
The Timken Roller Bearing Company was one of the first to introduce roller bearings for railroad cars. Railroad cars owned and operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway were some of the first to use roller bearings rather than “oil waste journal” boxes. Henry Timken, a German immigrant, invented an improved bearing and founded the company in 1899. It was later renamed The Timken Company. The first locomotive to use roller bearings made by Timken was Timken 1111, a 4-8-4 built by Alco in 1930. The locomotive was used on 15 American railroads for demonstration runs, and was purchased by the Northern Pacific Railroad, the last railroad to try the specially-built locomotive, in 1933. It operated in regular service on the NP until retirement in 1957 and was subsequently scrapped. Some British steam locomotives also used roller bearings. The LMS Turbomotive was fitted with Timken roller bearings, and they were also retrofitted to some of the LMS Coronation class. [12]
A dragbox is a substantial, often cast metal, part of a locomotive to which the coupling mechanism is attached to allow the locomotive to pull a train. [16]
Locomotives used during the EAR years from 1948 onwards will be covered in Part 16 of this series of articles.
The featured image for this article is Tanganyika Railways 2-8-2 No. 802 of the MacArthur austerity class at Tabora in the early 1950s before its conversion to oil fuel. [1: p68]
This is an overall view of Tanga Railway Station in 1908 during the the years of German East Africa. The station served as the coastal terminus of the Usambara Railway (Usambarabahn or Usambara Eisenbahn (UE)), which was constructed starting in 1893.The photograph was taken by German photographer Carl Vincenti it shows a train, headed by an unidentified early German steam locomotives, preparing to set off inland, (c) Deutsches Historisches Museum, (Inv. No. BA 90/5791)/Carl Vincenti and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence (CC-BY-SA 3.0). [15]
Locomotives in the Years of German East Africa:
UE Class 0-4-2T Locomotives
The Tanga Line (or Usambarabahn) was constructed over a relatively long period, starting in 1893, reached Korogwe in 1905 and Moshi in 1912. Initially the line was operated by five 0-4-2 tank locomotives. Ramear tells us that these five locomotives were built in 1893 by Vulcan (Vulkan) of Stettin. They were built to a standard design which Vulcan had standardised for use in Germany. [1: p19]
UE Engine No. 1 with an early passenger train ready for departure at Tanga Railway Station. This locomotive is the first in a class of 5 0-4-2T locomotives used on the Usambarabahn (c) Public Domain. [16][1: p19]UE No. 2, one of a class of five 0-4-2T locomotives built by Vulcan of Stetting in 1893, (c) Public Domain. [1: p18]
UE Nos. 6-10 Mallet Class of 0-4-4-0T Locomotives
A vintage postcard view of an Usambara Eisenbahn 0-4-4-0T mallet type steam locomotive, one of five built by Arnold Jung (No. 414-418) in 1900 and in charge of a mixed train. These locomotives were UE Nos. 6-10, later Nos. 601-605. [17]Another view of an Usambara Eisenbahn 0-4-4-0T Mallet type steam locomotive in charge of a passenger train which is waiting to depart at Tanga Railway Station. [18]Another view of a Mallet type steam locomotive in charge of a mixed train which is waiting to depart at Njussi Railway Station. [22]UE Mallet 0-4-4-0T No. 8 with a passenger train at Mombo, (c) Public Domain. [1: p20]
UE Nos 11-14 Class 2-8-0T Locomotives
After the line was improved with curves being increased to 200m radius, 8-coupled locomotives became feasible. Ramaer tells us that “Four tank locomotives with a 2-8-0T wheel arrangement were built for the UE by Messrs Orenstein & Koppel in 1908 to a standardised tank engine design used on all German colonial railways in Africa. … They were a distinct improvement over the Mallets. Although they were designed to burn coal, the high price of imported coal meant that they remained on wood fuel, which must have given problems with fireboxes and ashpans.” [1: p19-20] Sadly these locomotives seem not to appear on the Wikipedia list of Orenstein & Koppel locomotives. [23]
For an illustration of this type of locomotive please see the OAEG 2-8-0T below.
UE Nos. 15-16 & Nos. 17-18 Class 2-8-0 Locomotives
An Orenstein & Koppel (O&K) 2-8-0 locomotive which was one of a class built between 1908 and 1910 for the Usambarabahn. This specific locomotive is UE No. 15. [19]
These 2-8-0 tender locomotives were a significant improvement over the tank engines with a same wheel arrangement – with the side tanks removed and water carried in the tender the boiler size and weight could be increased. These were the last locomotives to eb supplied to the Usambarabahn and it operated with these locomotives well into the years of World War 1. [1: p20]
OAEG 0-4-0T Locomotives
Henschel of Kassel supplied 4 of these locomotives intended for the work of building the line. A further 4 of these locomotives were supplied, to the same design by, Henschel in 1909. [1: p21] In between these two batches of locomotive (in 1907) another 0-4-0T locomotive was put into service, the origins of this locomotive are obscure and it did not match the Henschel-built locomotives. Ramaer presumes that this locomotive was taken over from the contractor, Holzmann & Co. It was built by Markmaschinen (Works No. 26) in 1893. [1: p21, p27]
Ramaer notes that the Henschel engines “could be used as both coal and oil burners, and … had a bunker capacity of ton of coal besides 300 litres (66 gallons) of fuel oil. Their water capacity was 2 m³ (440 gallons). These little engines had a comparatively long life, surviving the war and the subsequent change to British management, and the last did not go out of service before the early 1930s.” [1: p23]
OAEG 0-4-0T Locomotive No. 2 with a line building train at Ugaga (later known as Malagarasi), (c) Public Domain. [1: p21]
OAEG Henschel Mallet Class 0-4-4-0T Locomotives
Just as the Usambarabahn needed to invest in more powerful Mallet types of locomotive which could also accommodate the tight curves on the line, so the OAEG to ordered five comparable Mallet 0-4-4-0Ts, four of which were supplied by Henschel in 1905 and put in service during the first half of 1906 with the fifth following in 1907; like the 0-4-0s they were built for either coal or oil fuel. The OAEG found these Mallets not to be as effective as had been hoped and decided to order Mallets from Henschel with a different wheel arrangement. [1: p23]
OAEG Henschel Mallet Class 2-4-4-0T Locomotives
Henschel supplied a second batch of four locomotives in 1908 as 2-4-4-0Ts with larger boilers and cylinders. They also had a higher working pressure of 14 atmospheres (at) (200lb/sq in) in comparison to 12 at (170lb/sq in) for the earlier engines. While the bunker capacity had been increased from 1.2 to 2.2 tonnes of coal, oil fuel had been discarded. [1: p23]
Mallets proved to be expensive to run and the OAEG realised that if it were to be able to use suitably powered locomotives for the train loads envisaged, it would need to improve the alignment of the later sections of the Mittellandbahn and upgrade to trackwork. This allowed the OEAG to consider using rigid-bodied 8-coupled locomotives.
OAEG 2-4-4-0T No. 27, in the last Mallet class to be built for German East Africa. This locomotive appears in the Wikipedia list of Henschel steam locomotives. [24] It also appears in R. Ramaer’s book (although possibly a slightly different image) [9: p23] and A.E. Durrant’s book about Mallets. [25: p66]
On the whole, the Mallets were not as successful as had been hoped, so it was something of a relief for the OAEG that it was able to use much larger radius curves once the more difficult topography close to the coast gave way to much flatter country. The OAEG was able to look at rigid-framed locomotives. With the invention of the Gölsdorf system [26][27] which allowed spring-controlled side-play in coupled axles at the end of the 19th century. Eight-coupled engines became more feasible. The OAEG took advantage of this innovation and began to introduce eight-coupled locomotives. Ramaer tells us that “The first solution tried was the 0-8-2 tank, built with the pony truck under the fuel bunker to make adhesion independent of diminishing supplies to the maximum possible extent, besides making riding somewhat more comfortable for the crew. High prices for imported coal from Europe had made the railway look for a cheaper alternative and these engines were the first to be built for wood fuel. Henschel supplied them in 1909 as works numbers 9301-2, running numbers 47-8.
OAEG 0-8-2T Locomotives Nos. 47 and 48
One of two OAEG 0-8-2T locomotives supplied to the OAEG by Henchel. This is No. 48, (c) Public Domain. [1: p24]This is the same locomotive but with elements easier to see as the image has a darker hue, (c) Public Domain. [28]
Ramaer tells us that “The first solution tried [by the OAEG] was the 0-8-2 tank, built with the pony truck under the fuel bunker to make adhesion independent of diminishing supplies to the maximum possible extent, besides making riding somewhat more comfortable for the crew. High prices for imported coal from Europe had made the railway look for a cheaper alternative and these engines were the first to be built for wood fuel. Henschel supplied them in 1909 as works numbers 9301-2, running numbers 47-8.” [1: p23]
OAEG 2-8-0T Locomotives Nos 41-44 (also UE 11-14)
A Borsig-built 2-8-0T. These locomotives served on the OAEG Mittellandbahn, Ramaer tells us that there were 20 of these locomotives in use in East Africa. [1: p24 & 25]
Ramaer tells us that “Simultaneously, Borsig and Orenstein & Koppel introduced an alternative [to the 0-8-2T] and more logical solution in the shape of six 2-8-0T engines, also built for wood fuel. Both types, with only 5½ and 5 cubic metres water capacity respectively, normally carried auxiliary tenders for both water and firewood, besides hoses on the engine to allow for taking water en-route. … From this class and a comparable, but compound engine, supplied, also by Orenstein & Koppel, to South West Africa and Togo, a standardised 2-8-0T locomotive was developed, which was supplied to all German colonial lines in Africa. … Besides serving on other railways, it worked on the Usambarabahn, as described above, and was built for the OAEG by Borsig, O & K, Hanomag (or Georg Egestorff, as this firm was originally known) and Maffei to a total of eighteen engines in 1909-10. Including the engines of the first batches by O & K and Borsig of six locomotives, the total of the Einheitstenderlok (standard tank locomotive) classes amounted to twenty-four engines by the end of German rule.” [1: p25]
These locomotives were far better than the 0-8-2T locos, particularly in respect of their performance at speed. This was of some importance when maximum speeds were raised to 45km/h, and planning envisaged 60km/h (36mph) for the Dar es Salaam-Kigoma mail trains. “The standard tanks were a good, straightforward design and were kept in service for a fairly long period under British management; the last ones … being withdrawn in 1951.” [1: p25]
The series was made up of Orenstein & Koppel locomotives (Works Nos.3223-3226) built in 1909, OAEG Nos. 41-44; Borsig locomotives (Works Nos. 7143-7144) built in 1909, OAEG Nos. 45-46; Henschel locomotives (Works Nos. 9301-9302) built in 1909, OAEG Nos. 47-48; Borsig locomotives (Works Nos. 7153-7155) built in 1909, OAEG Nos. 49-51; Orenstein & Koppel locomotives (Works Nos.3312-3314) built in 1909, OAEG Nos. 52-54; Borsig locomotives (Works Nos. 7552-7555) built in 1910, OAEG Nos. 55-58; Hanomag locomotives (Works Nos. 5845-5948) built in 1910, OAEG Nos. 59-64; Maffei locomotives (Works Nos. 3628-3631) built in 1910,OAEG Nos. 63-66. [1: p27]
OAEG 2-8-0 Locomotives Nos 101-120
An ex-Works photograph of one of a series of Hannoversche Maschinenbau Hanomag’s 2-8-0 locomotives built for the Ostafrikanische Eisenbahngesellschaft (East African Railway Company). No. 120 was Works No. 6666 of 1913 and was intended for use on the Mittellandbahn running West from Dar-es-Salaam. This locomotive was provided with a tender built by Borsig of Berlin. The locomotive was in use from 1923 to 1937. [20]
Numbered 101-120 these locomotives were built in three batches, 101-110 (6080-89) in 1911, 111-115 (6597-6601) in 1912 and 116-120 (6662-66) in 1913. The class was intended to include a total of 22 locomotives, but only 20 were built. The locomotives were primarily intended to support the construction and operation of the Central Line (Mittellandbahn or Tanganjikabahn) running from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma. Following World War I and the transition of the region to British administration, the engines entered service with the Tanganyika Railway Company, remaining in use into the late 1920s and 1930s. One of the Class is shown below with its Borsig tender.
An Hanomag 2-8-0 Locomotive with Borsig tender, (c) Public Domain. [21]
These were the largest and most powerful OAEG locomotives. They were put into service only after the eastern sections of the Mittellandbahn had been relaid with 55lb rail which would accommodate a ten ton axle load. Ramaer says that these locomotives were 46.2 tonnes (45.5 tons) in weight: “On level lines, these engines handled 500-ton trains, and on 1 in 55 gradients 250 tons at 10 1 km/h. Three carried feedwater purifiers/pre-heaters on top of the boiler. In their day, for the narrow gauge, they were advanced locomotives, and in the early post-war years, enginemen commented favourably upon those that survived. Nevertheless, the fact that they were not in line with British engineering practices presumably was the reason that all were scrapped in the period between the wars. The first ones went in the early 1920s, but the last survived until 1937, where it was in use on the Mwanza line. Without doubt the bulk of the class disappeared much earlier than would have been the case if the line had continued under German management.” [1: p25]
OAEG 2-8-0 Locomotive No. 107, one of the first batch of locomotives supplied by Hannoversche Maschinenbau Hanomag. When built these were the heaviest locomotives in East Africa. [1: p25]
One significant problem on the Mittellandbahn was the availability of water for the locomotives
Locomotives under British Management:
Under British administration the Tanganyika Railway started operation on 1st April 1919. It gained a series of different locomotives of German origin and some which the British forces had brought into Tanganyika during the first world war. Much of the German network had been destroyed by the retreating German forces. Ramaer says that around 4 miles was shaved off the journey between Dar-es-Salaam and Kigoma as the opportunity was taken to realign sections of the line to smooth out the worst curves.
Ramaer says that “Of the German locomotives, four classes were initially put into service on the Central Line, 14 of the Hanomag-built 2-8-0 tender locomotives of the former class 101-20 and now classified GG for German Goods, 22 2-8-0Ts, the German Einheits-vlok, now called class GT, for German Tank, 2 0-8-2 tanks and 6 0-4-0T pugs, dating back to the earliest years of the line, when the DKEBBG had used them for line building purposes. Later on, a total of seven 0-4-4-0T and 2-4-4-0T Mallets were also reconditioned.” [1: p53-54]
Only 5 German locos were salvageable on the Tanga Line: “three of the Orenstein & Koppel-built 2-8-0 tender locomotives of the German series 15-18 and two of the standard 2-8-0 tanks. Many of the Hanomag engines on the Central Line needed new cylinder castings, as the Germans had destroyed them in an attempt to prevent subsequent use of the engines. The new castings were made at the Parel works in Bombay of the former Great Indian Peninsula Railway and mostly fitted at Tabora, where the Germans had installed the main workshops for the Central Line. Thus 14 engines could be reconditioned, Nos 102-3, 105-6, 108, 111-17, 119-20.” [1: p54]
“The two 2-8-0 tender classes disappeared after a fairly short life in comparison to other, British-built locomotives on the system. The first engines went in the early 1920s, when money was made available to buy new engines from Britain. The remaining Hanomag locomotives were laid up in about 1932, after the arrival of the new class GA Garratts. One, however, was temporarily brought back into service in 1937, equipped with an electric headlamp, to work the engineering train on the lightly laid Mwanza line, which was very susceptible to washaways, and was always troublesome to operate from the locomotive point of view. All the Mallet tanks were derelict at Tabora works in 1930-31 and were subsequently sold as scrap to Japan.” [1: p54]
TR GT 2-8-0T Class Locomotives
It seems that, of the German fleet, only the 2-8-0T locos had a significant life under British control. Numbered 101 and 102 they were finally scrapped at Nairobi works in 1951.
TR GT Class 2-8-0T in use as a shunter at Tanga. This and its sister locomotive were Orenstein & Koppel locomotives and were the last two German locomotives to be in use on the network in Tanganyika, (c) Public Domain. [1: p53]
In March 1916, while the four members of the class were on their way to India, they were commandeered to assist in the British invasion of German East Africa, where they entered service with the Tanganyika Railway (TR), still carrying their NGSR lettering and numbers 1095–1098. In the early 1930s, they were officially classified as the TR’s NZ class (the NZ being a reference to “Nizam”), and renumbered as 200–203. [4]
The class was later operated by the TR’s successor, the East African Railways (EAR), as its 22 class, numbers 2201–2204. In the late 1940s, two of them were transferred to the Southern Province Railway, [5] the isolated network developed to support the ultimately unsuccessful Tanganyika Groundnuts Scheme. Nos 2202 and 2204 were scrapped in 1952, and 2201 and 2203 in 1956. [4]
TR DL Class 4-8-0 Locomotives
The abbreviation ‘DL’ stands for ‘Development Loan’. The locomotives first carried running numbers 200-205 and later 300-305. They had piston valves and superheater rather than the slide valves and saturated steam of the Nizams.Ramaer says that, “They were derived from the lighter engines of the Nigerian Railways’ Emir Class. Like them, they had narrow fireboxes which were found to be less suitable for wood burning, so that the DLs were used mainly on the section between Dar-es-Salaam and Morogoro, where coal was available.” [1: p56]
TR No. 301 was a TR DL Class 4-8-0 locomotive. It was originally numbered ‘TR No. 201. This Class were the first British locomotives to be built for the TR. They entered service in 1923, (c) Public Domain. [9: p297]The TR DL class, later known as the EAR 23 class, was a class of 4-8-0 steam locomotives derived from the Nigerian Railways Emir class. The six members of the class were built by Beyer, Peacock & Co. in Gorton, Manchester for the Tanganyika Railway (TR). They entered service on the TR in 1923, and were later operated by the TR’s successor, the East African Railways (EAR). No. 2302 was originally numbered TR No. 202 and later TR No. 302, (c) Basil Roberts and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence, (CC BY-SA 4.0). [8]
The DLs were survivors. Ramaer records that they were still is use in 1972 as EAR Class 2301-2306, although it was expected that they would be set aside in 1973. [1: p56]
TR MK 2-8-2 Class Locomotives
To resolve the problem of the DLs’ narrow fireboxes, a new locomotive design was ordered with a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement. The MK Class had a larger boiler and wider firebox. ‘MK’ was short for ‘Mikado’ which was the standard name across the world for 2-8-2 locomotives.
MK Class 2-8-2 Locomotive No. 407. This class of locomotive entered service in 1925-1927. [9: p299]
Later known as the EAR 25 class, the eleven members of the class were built by Vulcan Foundry, in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, for the Tanganyika Railway (TR). They entered service on the TR in 1925–1927. [10]
The eleven members of the Class were:
The eleven members of the original TR MK Class. [10]Vulcan Foundry ex-Works photo of TR MK 206. [10]
This class was a great success and the Class were still in use at the time Ramaer wrote his book, although he notes that they were now on borrowed time. “One problem with the design of the MK was the fact that the leading pony truck provided insufficient guidance on the sharp curves on the Dar-es-Salaam-Morogoro and the Malagarasi-Kigoma sections, and the design of the Bissel truck [29] left something to be desired.” [1: p57] The solution was a redesign for the next class of locomotive – the RV.
TR RV Class 4-8-2 Locomotives
The RV Class were a redesign of the MK Class – the only significant changes were the extending of the frames by 2 ft 9 in., to accommodate the leading bogie of the 4-8-2 wheel arrangement. Ramaer says that, “As a result of this change it was found necessary to extend the smokebox to keep the cylinders at least roughly in line with the blastpipe and chimney.” [1: p57] The design creted problems – “the greater length of the smokebox created vacuum problems, resulting in insufficient boiler draught. In consequence the RVs were poor steamers and this manifested itself clearly in their early days when they worked the mail trains on the Central Line. They were particularly bad on the Dar-es-Salaam-Morogoro and Kigoma-Kazuramimba sections with ruling gradients of two percent and more, although the below-average quality of firewood on the western section also had something to do with these poor performances.” [1: p57-58] They were nor popular with the train-crews.
At the time of writing of Ramaer’s book (1972?), these locomotives were working out their lives on lighter duties from Morogoro shed and were unlikely to continue in use beyond 1973. [1: p58]
TR G Class 4-8-0 Locomotives (including 4 No. NW Class 4-8-0 Locos)
TR Class G 4-8-0 Locomotive No. 210 (later 22 Class) – these locomotives entered service in1928. Hill tells us that these locomotives were obtained to work two specific lengths of railway – the Tanga Line and the Mwanza branch off the Central Line, (c) Public Domain. [9: p299]
These locomotives were a redesign of the NZ Class. Ramear says: “The four Nizam 4-8-0s obtained in 1916 served as the prototype for the TR’s own G class, a very similar unsuperheated, slide-valve engine, thirteen of which were supplied by Stephenson and Nasmyth Wilson and put in service in 1928-31. They were again closely similar to the original BESA-designed 4-8-0s for India and thus provide, as the last 4-8-0s built for the TR, a direct link with the first engines of this wheel arrangement to see service in this part of the world. The first eight were supplied to the Tanga Line in 1928 and released F class engines 96 and 720, which had become very expensive to maintain. One of the new Gs, unassisted, could handle the mail trains, a marked improvement over the old and obsolete six-coupled engines. The G had an axle load of only 8-8½ tons, a necessity on the light track of the Tanga Line. The reason for their obsolete concept is not quite clear, however, if we remember that these engines were built at the same time as the KUR EA class Mikados. Their original running numbers 20-32 were later changed to 204-16, as the locomotives were considered to be direct descendants of the NZ class locomotives 200-3. After the amalgamation in 1948 the G class engines were renumbered 2205-17 and gradually taken out of service.” [1: p58]
The EAR grouped a number of locomotives into the 22 Class in the late 1940s or early 1950s. This manoeuvre grouped ex-Tanganyika engines alongside a slightly newer batch of 1930 Nasmyth Wilson locomotives (Works Numbers 1588–1591) which also operated as Class 22s. [6]
The Tanganyika Railways Class G included four locomotives from a group initially known as NW Class 4-8-0s but others as well. We have noted above that the NZ Class of locomotives became EAR2201-EAR2204 (not Class G) and that the NW Class (included in Class G) later became EAR2214-EAR2217, two of which are pictured above. Others in Class G were to become: EAR2205 – EAR2209 Stephenson built locomotives (1927) Works Nos. 3959 -3963; EAR2210 – EAR2213 Stephenson built locomotives (1929) Works Nos. 3990-3991 & 4011-4012. [6]
All of the Class 22 locomotives were scrapped between 1956 and 1970. [6]
Renumbering
This table shows the revised numbering in use by the TR in the 1930s and the later EAR numbering scheme.
“The TR changed all running numbers in the early 1930s to a much more logical and consistent system. … Each class started at a round figure in series blocks of hundreds.” [1: p59]
TR ST Class 2-6-2T Locomotives
In 1930, the TR received four 2-6-2T shunters (the same type as the KUR ED1 Class). These were designated as the ST Class. They initially had running numbers TR Nos. 11-14, later TR Nos. 103-106. The locomotives were supplied by Vulcan. Under EAR control the locomotives were numbered EAR Nos. 1101-1104. [1: p60]
TR No. 12 was later designated TR No. 104 and later still, EAR No. 1101. This is an ex-Works photograph taken at the Vulcan Works in the UK, (c) Public Domain. [31]
Many of the EAR Class 11 locomotives were adapted to burn oil fuel rather than wood or coal and were still in use in 1972. [1: p60]
TR Sentinel GSL 50 Class Shunters
The TR GSL class locomotives were 0-4-0T geared steam locomotives designed for shunting and light duties. Built by Sentinel Waggon Works in Shrewsbury between 1929 and 1931, these locomotives were primarily used for shunting in yards and short-haul operations. A total of eight locomotives were built. They feature a side-tank design with geared drive, providing better traction on tight curves and low-speed manoeuvres, while the 0-4-0T Whyte notation reflects a rigid wheelbase for stability in confined spaces. [14]
A GSL Class Sentinel Shunter. Hill tells us that 8 of these small locomotives were purchased in 1930. They served in various roles until they were scrapped by the EAR in the early 1950s, (c) Public Domain. [9: p301]
Procurement of the GSL class occurred in the late 1920s amid broader post-war modernization initiatives across East African railways, with the Tanganyika Railway ordering eight units (which it numbered 50-57) to bolster yard operations as traffic volumes rose. Economic considerations favoured geared designs for their lower maintenance costs and suitability to tropical conditions, where conventional engines often suffered from corrosion and overheating. [14]
Ramaer tells us that, “Among their duties in the [1930s and 1940s] they were used as shed pilots, particularly for hauling out larger engines from the German-pattern roundhouse sheds to the turn-table, an arrangement frequently used at Central Line depots. After the war, they began showing signs of age and as newly built steam shunters were not readily available, they were replaced by diesels, the first on the TR. The last Sentinels, although outmoded, served at Tabora until the middle 1950s before being scrapped.” [1: p60]
TR GA 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt Class Locomotives
GA Class 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt No. 302 at the head of the Dar-es-Salaam -Kigoma mail train. [1: p60][9: facing p230]
The TR GA class, later known as the EAR 53 class, was a class of 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt-type articulated steam locomotives. The three members of the class were built in 1930 by Beyer, Peacock & Co. in Manchester for the Tanganyika Railway (TR). They entered service in 1931, and, with one exception, were later operated by the TR’s successor, the East African Railways (EAR). The class list is shown below. [11]
The GA Class numbered only three locomotives. [11]
The design of the GA class locomotives was based upon that of the Kenya-Uganda Railways (KUR) EC2 class, which was built at about the same time by the North British Locomotive Company for the (KUR). The main design difference was that the GAs had higher, narrower front tanks than the EC2s. With their reduced water capacity, the GAs also had a lower axle loading, which made them suitable for operation over the World War I-damaged bridges on the Central Line in Tanganyika. [11]
GA Class 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt No. 700 which was brought into service between Dar-es-Salaam and Morogoro in 1931. [9: p303]
Upon entry into service in 1931, the GA class locomotives were allocated numbers 300–302. Each of them was also given a name: the first two carried the names Arusha and Iringa, respectively, after the locations of the TR’s big road depots, and no. 302 was named Bukoba. Later, the GAs were renumbered 700–702. [1: p61]
GA Class 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt No. TR 301 was coal-fired and can be seen here being refuelled at Tanga. [9: facing p198]
It was the TR’s general policy to allocate tender locomotives to standard duties, and use its Garratts only for the most demanding tasks. The GA class therefore normally worked between Dar-es-Salaam and Morogoro, the heaviest part of the Central Line. [12: p184]
The GA class’s operating costs were markedly lower than those of their predecessors. Even during the Great Depression, when traffic volumes greatly declined, they were of great operational benefit. Following the outbreak of World War II, they became indispensable. [1: p60]
Unfortunately one member of the class, TR No 702 Bukoba, was derailed by a washaway near Mikese during a night of bad weather in 1944. The crew was saved, but the locomotive was almost completely submerged and had to be scrapped. [1: p60]
In 1949, the TR and the KUR were merged to form the EAR, which took over the two survivors, classified them as its 53 class, and renumbered them 5301–5302. [1: p61]
The EAR also equipped the two survivors with a French-style ACFI feedwater heater, one of which had already been fitted to the last member of the KUR EC1 class, no 66. However, the feedwater heaters were later removed, partly because they achieved only limited improvement in thermal efficiency, and also as they had caused similar maintenance problems to those experienced by the KUR. [1: p61]
In the 1950s, the EAR 53 class locomotives were replaced on the Central Line by the new EAR 60 class locomotives, and therefore transferred to the northern part of the EAR system. Later, they returned to what had become Tanzania, to carry out transfer work in Dar-es-Salaam. They were withdrawn and scrapped there in the late 1960s. [1: p61][12: p184]
East African Railways publicity photograph of no. 5302 Iringa, c. 1953, (c) Public Domain. [11]
TR GB 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt Class Locomotives
The Tanganyika Railway (TR) GB class were 4-8-2+2-8-4 Beyer-Garratt steam locomotives were originally ordered by the British War Department for service in Brazil, although not built. Later the design was used for locomotives for India and Burma. Four were acquired by the TR in 1946 from Burma. They later became members of the East African Railways (EAR) 55 class. [13][1: p64]
GB Class Garratt locomotive No. 753 entered service in 1948 immediately prior to the amalgamation of the TR and the KUR. [9: p307]
The Garratt locomotives that eventually made up the full 55 Class list were in use on the KUR and the TR. The full list is shown below:
The full EAR 55 Class list: as can be seen 4 of the Class served in Tanganyika, one of which (EAR No. 5505, ex-TR No. 752) is preserved at Nairobi Railway Museum. When serving in Tanganyika before the amalgamation of the two networks, these locomotives were numbered TR 750 – TR 753. [13]
The six members of the ML class (an improved MK design) were built in 1947 by W. G. Bagnall, in Stafford, England, and delivered to the TR. They were later operated by the TR’s successor, the East African Railways (EAR), as its 26 class. In 1952, six further members of the 26 class were delivered to the EAR. They had been built by Vulcan Foundry, of Newton-le-Willows and Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns of North East England. [7]
TR BB Class Locomotives
Four 4-6-0 tender locomotives were found at El Shatt, at the southern end of the Suez Canal opposite Suez. These engines were originally built in 1926 at Ajmer works in India for the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI Railway) and “during the war nine were taken to Egypt to serve on the metre gauge Qena-Port Safaga railway from the upper Nile to the Red Sea. The 4-6-0s were found lying idle at El Shatt in 1945 and four were initially taken over by the TR in 1947-8.” [1:p67]
Ramaetr tells us that, “They were not successful in Tanganyika, in fact they were considered poor engines; the round-top fireboxes gave trouble and non-standard parts had been used in their construction. Hence, the five remaining engines were not taken over, while the four that had come to the TR as class BB (for BB&CI), Nos 270-3 later EAR 2001-4, were used mainly for shunting and occasional banking duties. They led a somewhat shadowy existence and even a good photograph of them does not seem to exist, the only one known showing No 272 with its old TR number being cut up at Dar es Salaam about 1957-8.” [1: p67]
Engines of the TR 2-6-0 BB Class being dismantled at Dar-es-Salaam in 1958. [1: p68]
TR MR Class 2-8-2 Locomotives
These locomotives were American-built. Many of these engines were built by various American manufacturers, including: Alco; Baldwin; and Davenport. These locomotives were known as ‘MacArthurs’. Those which ended up working on the Tanganyika Railways were manufactured in 1944. [1: p70] and arrived from Malaya in 1949. There were eight locomotives bought in this way which became the MR Class, running numbers 800-807. They were built by three different manufacturers and as a result had minor differences: Alco Nos. 800-802; Baldwin Nos. 803-805; Davenport Nos. 806-807. [1: p70]
TR 2-8-2 No. 802 of the MacArthur austerity class at Tabora in the early 1950s before its conversion to oil fuel. [1: p68]
Ramaer tells us that, “At first there were problems, and modifications were needed to water tanks and reversing gear, which was undertaken at Nairobi works because of the limited capacity of the shops at Dar-es-Salaam. An additional difficulty was posed by the fact that the engines had not been designed to burn wood fuel. Grates were rather small and no rocking or dropping equipment was available. This circumstance gave rise to criticism because of the high ash residue of the wood fuel and only after the locomotives were converted to burn oil was the problem satisfactorily solved. After conversion the MacArthurs by then classified EAR 2701-8, did reasonably well.” [1; p69] The class was expanded in 1950 under EAR control when eight more were purchased from Malaya and one in parts from Nigeria. The last of these locomotives in service was based at Tabora and had been kept running by cannibalising other members of the class.
TR Sentinel Railcars
[9: facing p198]
“In 1929, two Sentinel rail cars were put into service between Moshi and Arusha in the North of Tanganyika. Although they were appreciated by the travelling public, they failed to attract sufficient traffic to make them an economic proposition on this section of the line.” [9: p199]
These railcars were manufactured by the Sentinel Waggon Works in Shrewsbury, in partnership with Cammell Laird. They were innovative geared steam-powered cars which were intended to increase service frequency and passenger convenience.
References
R. Ramaer; Steam Locomotives of the East African Railways; David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1974.
M. F. Hill; Permanent Way Volume II: The Story of the Tanganyika Railways; East African Railways and Habours, Nairobi, Kenya; Watson & Viney, Aylesbury & Slough, 1957.
A.E. Durrant; The Mallet Locomotive; David & Charles, Newton Abbot, Devon, 1974.
The Gölsdorf axle system is used to achieve quiet running and low wear-and-tear when negotiating curves. The axle system comprises a combination of fixed axles and axles that can slide transversely, all within a single, rigid locomotive frame. The system was invented by a young Austrian locomotive builder, Karl Gölsdorf, around the end of the 19th century. The first locomotive to use this principle entered service in 1897. [27]
The Bissell truck (or Bissel truck) is a swiveling bogie or pony truck assembly fitted on steam locomotives. Patented by American engineer Levi Bissell in 1857, its genius lies in placing the pivot pin behind the truck and just ahead of the front driving wheels, shortening the rigid wheelbase and allowing the wheels to smoothly navigate uneven curves. [30]
The featured image for this article is GB Class Garratt Locomotive 4-8-2+2-8-4 which entered service in 1948. [1: p307]
During WW2, the financial position of the railways in Tanganyika improved considerably, due in no small part to movements of troops and refugees and a significant increase in goods traffic. In 1940, the number of journeys made by passengers was 511,809 which produced a revenue of £93,478. In 1945, the number of journeys made by passengers was 1,524,087 which produced revenue of £345,650. Throughout the system there was a shortage of passenger rolling-stock and many third-class passengers were carried in goods wagons. Goods traffic amounted to 236,512 tons in 1940 and 357,359 in 1945. The revenue derived from it increased from £469,228 to £638,536. made by passengers was 511,809 which produced a revenue of £93,478. In 1945, the number of journeys made by passengers was 1,524,087 which produced revenue of £345,650. Throughout the system there was a shortage of passenger rolling-stock and many third-class passengers were carried in goods wagons. Goods traffic amounted to 236,512 tons in 1940 and 357,359 in 1945. The revenue derived from it increased from £469,228 to £638,536.
German enterprise in Tanganyika had been allowed to proceed unchecked in the years prior to WW2, but at the advent of the war, all enemy aliens were interned and as a result the ‘Custodian of Enemy Property’ had to deal with “36 sisal estates, 180 coffee estates, 29 tea estates, 231 mixed farms and 14 cocoa-nut plantations, a total of 490 agricultural properties. In addition, there were 91 German-owned businesses and 49 German-owned mining properties in the Territory. German-owned sisal estates accounted for nearly one-third of the Territory’s production, and 24 of them were leased, on a royalty basis, to tenants approved by the Tanganyika Sisal Growers’ Association. In 1938, the German-owned coffee estates had produced 2,000 tons out of a total output of 5,000 tons from European-owned estates. They were nearly all in the Moshi, Arusha, Oldeani and Mbosi districts. The disorganisation of the world’s markets made it very difficult to lease the coffee estates, and only 30 out of the total of 226 had been leased by the end of 1940. The 29 German tea estates in the Southern Highlands, 24 around Mufindi and 5 around Tukuyu, were leased to the Kenya Tea Company, a subsidiary of Brooke Bond. Altogether the Custodian took over 1,739 personal accounts and 720 business and estate accounts. In the first year of the war-i.e. up to 31st August 1940 – the total of estate receipts was £460,632 and of payments £250,278.” [1: p255]
Hill continues:
“For farmers and planters 1940 was a good year, despite the the difficulties imposed by the war, the limitations of overseas markets for certain types of produce and the restriction of shipping, especially for sisal. The production of sisal was 101,810 tons, compared with 103,248 tons in 1939, but only 78,528 tons, valued at £1.5 million, could be exported. In 1939, 93,110 tons valued at £1,223,477 were exported. At the end of 1940 stocks of of sisal unshipped amounted to 46,566 tons compared with a normal stock of 13,000 tons. Exports of coffee and cotton were surprisingly well maintaimed, but the groundnuts crop was only 8,185 tons as compared with exports exceeding 23,000 tons in 1936 and 1937. The production of gold amounted to 291.511 ozs., valued at £1,213,334, of which 36,809 ozs., valued at ₤309,196, were produced by the Geita Gold Mining Company. The output of diamonds (6,211 carats) was valued at £13,614
“The total volume of Tanganyika’s trade in 1940 was very satisfactory and second only to 1937. For the first time the value of domestic exports exceeded £5 million. although a considerable part of the total production could not be exported during the year. The import trade was greatly reduced by the difficulty of securing supplies, the cessation of building and development, and the removal of German consumers. The favourable balance of visible trade rose to £2,640,000. Despite the difficulties, local trading conditions were sound and much of the trade was on a cash basis. The absence of the former competition of German merchant firms was an aid to traders in adjusting their operations to wartime conditions. In the July of 1940 the Compulsory Service Ordinance introduced conscription for all British subjects and protected persons. By the end of the year, nearly all adult male Europeans who were not in the Forces were either employed in essential occupations or were too old for military service. On 14th June 1941, 450 Europeans, 330 Asians and 17,500 Africans were on military service with the East Africa Command.
“By the end of 1940 the scope of the control of essential supplies was extended to include general supplies. The General Manager of the Railways was responsible both for the control of supplies and for the operation of price control. By means of an import control, the imports of non-sterling goods were reduced to £1,135,462 in 1940 as compared with over £1.8 million in 1938.
“Early in 1940 the Sisal Controller, Major Sir William Lead, visited London to discuss the problems confronting the industry. The requirements of the United Kingdom and France were about 80,000 tons a year, and the rest of East Africa’s output was very hard to sell. With the collapse of France, the Continental markets were closed, and it was essential to devise a scheme for the restriction of output. The British Government agreed to guarantee a market for 100,000 tons of East African sisal during the year 1940-1941 at a controlled price, and the sisal planters agreed to restrict production by one-third. The restriction scheme, which came into operation on 1st November 1940, provided a quota of 76,570 tons of sisal from Tanganyika and 23,430 tons from Kenya and Uganda. The restriction scheme did not last for long. Within a year the maximum output of sisal was required and steps were taken to raise production to 108,000 tons a year.
“Towards the end of 1940 the East Africa Command called on Tanganyika for a rapid increase in supplies of meat, rice, onions and potatoes to the Army. In September a timber control was established on an East African basis under Major F. W. Cavendish-Bentinck, who was represented in Tanganyika by the Conservator of Forests as Deputy Controller. By the end of the year all sawmills were working at full capacity to meet military orders. The Shume concession of the Tanganyika Forests and Lumber Company was terminated in September, and the land, buildings and machinery were requisitioned. The forest was then worked by a South African Forestry Company, a military unit, until the April of 1941, when the Shume sawmill was closed down.
“By the end of 1940 Tanganyika’s General Revenue Balance was £705,984, a result which confounded the pundits and showed how rash it is to predict the economic reaction to a set of unprecedented conditions.
“In 1941 the revenue of the railways and the ports increased to £841,616, whereas expenditure was held down to £431,928, a remarkable achievement. After payment of loan charges (£313,137), the railways were left with a surplus of £96,551, the largest since 1927. The liability of the railways to the Government of Tanganyika was reduced to £299,096, which included a sum of £55,000 to cover the holding of Government stores. The Acting General Manager, Mr. L. E. Steventon, reported that the number of miles run per engine failure was again disappointing. ‘The majority of failures,’ he wrote, ‘were caused by the inexperience of young African drivers who are being employed as a result of heavy wastage of older men. Difficulty is being experienced in obtaining the right type of learner-driver and also in retaining their services after training has started. Training of African drivers and artisans has continued as satisfactorily as can be expected under present difficult conditions.’ A number of these drivers who remained in the Railways’ service later proved very satisfactory.
“Mr. Steventon also reported that the track had been maintained to a standard which permitted good running at the maximum speed in force. There were some bad sections in the Dodoma district, but on the coastal sections running was improved by the laying of earth ballast. One of the solutions to the problem of carrying more traffic without an increase of engine power was to regrade or realign the more steeply graded sections of the line. … In 1944, realignment and regrading was started between Morogoro and Mkata to reduce the gradient to 1%, compensated for curvature, and this work was completed in 1946. Regrading at Kidete and Saranda was also undertaken and completed in 1944. The increased traffic of the war years also made it necessary to restart the ballasting of many sections of the main line, although the demands on rolling stock often made it difficult to move the ballast from the quarries to the line.
“In the January, November and December of 1941 there were serious washaways in the Dodoma district, especially between Kms. 473 and 489, around Manyoni and in the Mukandokwa valley, which caused serious delays to traffic. As a result of a wash-away in January, a new bridge was built at Km. 473. It was completed in November, a few days before the temporary diversion was washed away. In addition to coping with its own problems, the Engineering Department also undertook the construction of an internment camp to house 3,000 men at Tabora. The camp, built in four months, was needed to house Italian enemy subjects removed from Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland. In the following year, a similar camp was built at Kigoma.” [1: p255-257]
“Towards the end of 1940, the East Africa Command called on Tanganyika for a rapid increase in supplies of meat, rice, onions and potatoes to the Army. In September a timber control was established on an East African basis under Major F. W. Caven-dish-Bentinck, who was represented in Tanganyika by the Conservator of Forests as Deputy Controller. By the end of the year all sawmills were working at full capacity to meet military orders. The Shume concession of the Tanganyika Forests and Lumber Company was terminated in September, and the land, buildings and machinery were requisitioned. The forest was then worked by a South African Forestry Company, a military unit, until the April of 1941, when the Shume sawmill was closed down.
“By the end of 1940, Tanganyika’s General Revenue Balance was £705,984, a result which confounded the pundits and showed how rash it is to predict the economic reaction to a set of unprecedented conditions.
“In 1941 the revenue of the railways and the ports increased to £841,616, whereas expenditure was held down to £431,928, a remarkable achievement. After payment of loan charges (£313,137), the railways were left with a surplus of £96,551, the largest since 1927. The liability of the railways to the Government of Tanganyika was reduced to £299,096, which included a sum of £55,000 to cover the holding of Government stores. The Acting General Manager, Mr. L. E. Steventon, reported that the number of miles run per engine failure was again disappointing. ‘The majority of failures,’ he wrote, ‘were caused by the inexperience of young African drivers who are being employed as a result of heavy wastage of older men. Difficulty is being experienced in obtaining the right type of learner-driver and also in retaining their services after training has started. Training of African drivers and artisans has continued as satisfactorily as can be expected under present difficult conditions.’ A number of these drivers who remained in the Railways’ service later proved very satisfactory.
“Mr. Steventon also reported that the track had been maintained to a standard which permitted good running at the maximum speed in force. There were some bad sections in the Dodoma district, but on the coastal sections running was improved by the laying of earth ballast. One of the solutions to the problem of carrying more traffic without an increase of engine power was to regrade or realign the more steeply graded sections of the line. … In 1944, realignment and regrading was started between Morogoro and Mkata to reduce the gradient to 1%, compensated for curvature, and this work was completed in 1946. Regrading at Kidete and Saranda was also undertaken and completed in 1944. The increased traffic of the war years also made it necessary to restart the ballasting of many sections of the main line, although the demands on rolling stock often made it difficult to move the ballast from the quarries to the line.
“In the January, November and December of 1941 there were serious washaways in the Dodoma district, especially between Kms. 473 and 489, around Manyoni and in the Mukandokwa valley, which caused serious delays to traffic. As a result of a wash-away in January, a new bridge was built at Km. 473. It was completed in November, a few days before the temporary diversion was washed away. In addition to coping with its own problems, the Engineering Department also undertook the construction of an internment camp to house 3,000 men at Tabora. The camp, built in four months, was needed to house Italian enemy subjects removed from Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland. In the following year, a similar camp was built at Kigoma.” [1: p255-257]
From 1942 until the amalgamation with Kenya and Uganda Railways in May 1948, the Tanganyika Railways made substantial profits. Hill tells us that:
“For the year 1942 the gross revenue of the railways and the ports was £1,115,927, while expenditure was only £504,642. After paying loan charges, the working profit was £296,009. At long last it was possible to inaugurate a proper Renewals Fund, and it was opened with an appropriation of £100,000. The liability to the Tanganyika Government was reduced to £84,509. The railways’ profits for the rest of the war years were £267,122 in 1943, £276,332 in 1944 and £225,441 in 1945. These satisfactory results enabled allocations to the Renewals Fund of £220,000 in 1943, £237,150 in 1944, and £193,900 in 1945. Of the allocation in 1942, £20,000 was specifically ear-marked for the new road services. Although it was not possible to place the Renewals Fund on an economic basis, it was realised that unless full renewals’ contributions were made in respect of the road vehicles which had a high value and a short life, the road services would soon be in serious financial difficulties.
“In 1944. the financial position of the ports had so improved that it was possible to contribute £10,000 to a Ports Renewals Fund, in addition to contributions of £200,000 to the Railways’ Renewals Fund and of £27,500 to the Road Services’ Renewals Fund. In 1945, the contribution to the Railways’ Renewals Fund had to be reduced to £150,000, but the contribution in respect of the ports was maintained at £10,000, and the allocation to the Road Services’ Renewals Fund was increased to £35,900. This was an important step towards a sounder financial position, but there was still a deal of leeway to be made up. In 1940, the General Manager had stated that the arrears of renewals, in respect of British assets alone, amounted to £1,272,782,
“The improvement in the railways’ financial position during the war years was based on a much wider range of traffic than formerly. The traffic returns for 1945 showed that no single item provided a dangerously large percentage of the revenue as had been the case in the years when copper had been the mainstay of the Central line. During the war the Congo traffic increased substantially, but in 1945 it represented only 159,278 of a total revenue of nearly £1.5 million.
“When the finances of the ports were separated from those of the railways in 1939, the gross earnings amounted to £123,075, the expenditure to £96,658, including debt charges, and the excess of earnings over expenditure was £26,517. These results remained much the same during the next two years, but in 1942 they started to improve, and by 1945 the gross earnings had reached a figure of £214,297. Expenditure, including debt charges, was £159,183, and the excess of earnings over expenditure was £55,114. The substantial growth of traffic strained the ports in the same way as the railways. Unfortunately the ports had also to cope with the difficulties caused by the convoy system. The arrival of ships in bunches made smooth working at Dar-es-Salaam difficult and threw a great strain on the storage accommodation at the port. As shippers had no knowledge of the arrivals and sailings of vessels, far more exports had to be stored in the port area than was normal, so a low storage rate was introduced. In 1944, at Dar-es-Salaam Malindi Wharf, a new shed which provided an additional 13,000 square feet of storage space, was constructed.
“In 1941, it was decided that the arrangements under which the Tanganyika Landing and Shipping Company, the Administration’s cargo-handling contractors at the ports, were working gave too favourable terms to the contractors. A new agreement was therefore reached whereby all revenue accruing from the handling of cargo was paid to the Tanganyika Railways, and the Tanganyika Landing and Shipping Company was paid on the basis of the actual cost of the work which they performed, plus a percentage for profit. The new agreement came into force on 1st January 1942, and resulted in a substantial increase of the gross earnings of the ports of Dar-es-Salaam and Tanga. The net receipts increased from £24,080 in 1941 to £48,251 in 1942.” [1: p258-259]
“For the year 1942 the gross revenue of the railways and the ports was £1,115,927, while expenditure was only £504,642. After paying loan charges, the working profit was £296,009. At long last it was possible to inaugurate a proper Renewals Fund, and it was opened with an appropriation of £100,000. The liability to the Tanganyika Government was reduced to £84,509. The railways’ profits for the rest of the war years were £267,122 in 1943, £276,332 in 1944 and £225,441 in 1945. These satisfactory results enabled allocations to the Renewals Fund of £220,000 in 1943, £237,150 in 1944, and £193,900 in 1945. Of the allocation in 1942, £20,000 was specifically ear-marked for the new road services. Although it was not possible to place the Renewals Fund on an economic basis, it was realised that unless full renewals’ contributions were made in respect of the road vehicles which had a high value and a short life, the road services would soon be in serious financial difficulties.
“In 1944. the financial position of the ports had so improved that it was possible to contribute £10,000 to a Ports Renewals Fund, in addition to contributions of £200,000 to the Railways’ Renewals Fund and of £27,500 to the Road Services’ Renewals Fund. In 1945, the contribution to the Railways’ Renewals Fund had to be reduced to £150,000, but the contribution in respect of the ports was maintained at £10,000, and the allocation to the Road Services’ Renewals Fund was increased to £35,900. This was an important step towards a sounder financial position, but there was still a deal of leeway to be made up. In 1940, the General Manager had stated that the arrears of renewals, in respect of British assets alone, amounted to £1,272,782,
“The improvement in the railways’ financial position during the war years was based on a much wider range of traffic than formerly. The traffic returns for 1945 showed that no single item provided a dangerously large percentage of the revenue as had been the case in the years when copper had been the mainstay of the Central line. During the war the Congo traffic increased substantially, but in 1945 it represented only 159,278 of a total revenue of nearly £1.5 million.
“When the finances of the ports were separated from those of the railways in 1939, the gross earnings amounted to £123,075, the expenditure to £96,658, including debt charges, and the excess of earnings over expenditure was £26,517. These results remained much the same during the next two years, but in 1942 they started to improve, and by 1945 the gross earnings had reached a figure of £214,297. Expenditure, including debt charges, was £159,183, and the excess of earnings over expenditure was £55,114. The substantial growth of traffic strained the ports in the same way as the railways. Unfortunately the ports had also to cope with the difficulties caused by the convoy system. The arrival of ships in bunches made smooth working at Dar-es-Salaam difficult and threw a great strain on the storage accommodation at the port. As shippers had no knowledge of the arrivals and sailings of vessels, far more exports had to be stored in the port area than was normal, so a low storage rate was introduced. In 1944, at Dar-es-Salaam Malindi Wharf, a new shed which provided an additional 13,000 square feet of storage space, was constructed.
“In 1941, it was decided that the arrangements under which the Tanganyika Landing and Shipping Company, the Administration’s cargo-handling contractors at the ports, were working gave too favourable terms to the contractors. A new agreement was therefore reached whereby all revenue accruing from the handling of cargo was paid to the Tanganyika Railways, and the Tanganyika Landing and Shipping Company was paid on the basis of the actual cost of the work which they performed, plus a percentage for profit. The new agreement came into force on 1st January 1942, and resulted in a substantial increase of the gross earnings of the ports of Dar-es-Salaam and Tanga. The net receipts increased from £24,080 in 1941 to £48,251 in 1942.” [1: p258-259]
In 1942, a service of first class safari cars which seated 7 passengers, and were built on a 10-cwt. chassis, was introduced between Morogoro and Korogwe. The fares charged were double the normal second class fare on the ordinary bus. In 1943, very heavy demands were made on this service for the carriage of passengers, including troops. As a result, it was necessary to divert all ordinary goods traffic to the sea route between Tanga and Dar-es-Salaam and to carry only passengers and baggage by road.
Hill explains that the Morogoro Road Service brought in some considerable revenue. The Railway’s profits from the venture, after payment of interest, loan charges and renewals contributions, were:
The result of this was that the Government asked the Railways to run further road services. [2][3] Hill describes the growth of road service during WW2 as remarkable and he provides figures to support his assertion:
Road Services provided by the Railways between 1941 and 1946. [1: p260]
More details about the road services provided by Tanganyika Railways and the later East Africa Railways and Harbours can be found here. [2]
The railways were also expected to expand their services on water, both at the coast and inland. In 1942, a river service was set up in the Kilombero valley at the Governments assistance. This was a loss making service which ran for just three years before it was closed. In 1940, a ferry service to local ports and islands based at Mwanza was started which was based on vessels leased from the Custodian of Enemy Property.
By 1944, Hill tells us that: The policymakers of Tanganyika Railways were beginning to envisage what life might be like in the coming peace. “Between the two world wars Tanganyika’s status as a mandated territory under the League of Nations was undoubtedly a hindrance to economic development. As the repute of the League of Nations waned, fear that Tanganyika would be restored to Germany had waxed. As a result, capital investment was small and few commercial concerns were prepared to accept the political risk in addition to the hazards common to enterprise in an undeveloped country. These political fears and a policy of undue caution and, at least to some extent, of restriction, retarded the development of agriculture and curtailed the alienation of land for European settlement between the two world wars.” [1: p261]By 1944, Hill tells us that:
Hill continues:
“In the May of 1944 Mr. J. R. Farquharson, the Chief Engineer of the Tanganyika Railways who had been seconded as Controller of Road Transport, completed an able review of transport in Tanganyika. Mr. Farquharson’s main conclusions and recommendations were:
(i) A Transport Authority should be established to operate all state transport services, to undertake the licensing, regulation and supervision of other internal transport services, and to negotiate with transport operators between Tanganyika and other countries.
(ii) Railway revenue from internal traffic could be estimated as increasing by £15,000 a year from a level of £610,000 in 1941. A new agreement should be negotiated in respect of transit traffic to and from the Belgian Congo, To be rid of injustices to Tanganyika, a new agreement should be negotiated in respect of traffic between the Northern and Lake Provinces and the coast.
(iii) The annual cost of maintaining Tanganyika’s roads was £150,000 and the revenue raised from road users was less than £100,000. The usual unit was a vehicle of three tons’ capacity. The road transport industry was in the hands of ‘small’ men, usually owning from one to three lorries. The real cost of operating lorries was 70 cents per vehicle-mile.
(iv) The future of road-rail relations was the main transport problem. The disparity in marginal costs of rail and motor transport was about 2 cents and 20 to 30 cents respectively. Control should be exercised over road routes parallel to railway lines, but free competition should be allowed within de-fined traffic areas.
(v) A new railway should be built, at an estimated cost of £900,000, between Morogoro on the Central line and Korogwe on the Tanga line. Another new railway should be built, at an estimated cost of £2,400,000, between Morogoro and Mbeya, with the possibility in mind of stopping at a point beyond Ifakara.
(“Mr. Farquharson then wrote: ‘The financing of the losses on these two railways in their early years is well within the capacity of the railway services but, in the interests of the general welfare, it might be desirable to finance the losses in whole or in part from general revenue. Future investment in the road system should be the subject of further consideration by the proposed Transport Authority in the light of decisions made regarding railway developments. The proposed railway links, apart from their beneficial effect on the local economy, will be of great value for defence purposes and will greatly assist in the development of an African economy. All railway, port and other engineering works should be planned as a continuous programme, so that the best use is made of personnel and equipment, and the level of activity is suited to the needs of Tanganyika’s economy’.”) [1: p261-262]
Farquharson’s list continues:
“(vi) While the Shipping Conferences served a most useful function for overseas traffic, their control over local movements on the East African coast and their use of the deferred rebate system in respect of local shipments had been contrary to the welfare of Tanganyika. Deferred rebates should be prohibited and the Transport Authority should operate two coastal steamers.
(vii) Two deep-water berths should be constructed at Dar es Salaam at an estimated capital cost of £400,000. One deep-water berth and one coastal berth should be built at Tanga at an estimated cost of £300,000. Coastal berths should also be built at Lindi and Mikindani. The annual charges on a capital expenditure of some £800,000 could be met without difficulty from the revenue of the ports.
(viii) A motor-launch service should be operated along the Tanganyika shore of Lake Nyasa and much improved services established on Victoria Nyanza.
(ix) Internal air services should be co-ordinated with other internal transport services and operated in the interests of East Africa rather than to suit the convenience of operators on international routes.” [1: p262-263]
Farquharson also drew attention to a ‘Memorandum on the financial and economic aspects of the transport facilities serving the Lake Province of Tanganyika’, which was dated November 1940. Hill quotes the last two paragraphs of that memorandum which read:
“Finally it may be argued that amalgamation of the three East African territories or amalgamation of the two East African railways or both would settle the question raised in this memorandum; from that premise it could be reasoned that there would be little point in reaching a settlement on this particular problem if one of the amalgamations mentioned is likely to take place at some not-too-distant date. Amalgamation, per se, would not really solve the difficulties, and in fact a proper appreciation of this frontier problem is required to ensure that, if the railways are amalgamated, all parties will receive equitable treatment. The consideration given to all the factors and the solution proposed in this memorandum would, in fact, assist greatly in any later negotiations regarding closer union. Amalgamation may take a number of forms: e.g. (i) complete union of territories and the railways (as in South Africa); (ii) federation of territories with separate state railways (as in Australia); (iii) federation with amalgamation of the rail system; (iv) amalgamation of railways with separate states (as in Kenya and Uganda at present). With the first solution it would be necessary to consider the East African railways as a homogeneous transport system and apply the same rate structure throughout. If the union took place with no change in total traffic, the new rate level would be generally higher than the present Kenya-Uganda-rate level. It could be argued that this would be caused by the amalgamation with a low-traffic, high-cost line, but principally it would show that the present low Kenya-Uganda rates had been obtained partly because of the traffic to and from the Northern and Lake Provinces of Tanganyika. With the second solution each territory would give to the federal body only certain of its rights as a separate political entity, and with separate railway systems it would still be necessary to negotiate equitable agreements as between the federal authority, the separate territories and the railways. With the third solution it would also be necessary to negotiate equitable agreements between the railway system, the states and the federal authorities. With the fourth solution it would still be necessary for the separate terri tories to have equitable arrangements with the single administration, otherwise the latter would have the power to affect state policies.
“It can be seen, therefore, that no matter what the future may hold as regards the development of the East African transport administrations, nothing is gained by any postponement in considering the question raised in this memorandum. For forty years the Kenya-Uganda system has enjoyed almost all the transport revenue from one of the richest parts of the Territory, though the Territory itself has had its own transport route available since 1928; a settlement is now required which will safeguard the interests of Tanganyika and its inhabitants after the termination of the existing agreement.” [1: p263-264]
Hill mentions that “At long last, a decision was taken to cut the annual losses on the branch line from Manyoni to Kinyangiri. The section from Singida to Kinyangiri was taken up in 1944 and a triangle installed at Singida. In 1947 the section from Manyoni to Singida was also taken up and an unfortunate venture finally closed.” [1: p264]
Hill goes on to state that:
During 1944, orders were placed in the United Kingdom for a number of new covered wagons and tank cars, but by the end of 1947 only 22 new covered wagons had been delivered. Apart from a few shunting engines, no new engines nor passenger coaches were ordered, and the existing stock proved sufficient to cope with the traffic offering until 1947. In that year there was a decline in the volume of passenger traffic.
In 1945, there were eleven washaways on the Central line, and one of them was a serious blow. Near Mikese, one of the three Garratt engines was wrecked beyond repair and had to be written off, eight wagons were derailed and seriously damaged, and the line was blocked for four days. … In the same year Mr. A. E. Hamp, after thirty-three years of notable service to East Africa, retired as General Manager of the Tanganyika Railways and was succeeded by Mr. J. R. Farquharson. At the conclusion of his Annual Report for the year 1945, Mr. Farquharson wrote:
“It may be that the volumes of passenger and goods traffic of 1945 will not be exceeded for many years. Passenger traffic by rail rose from 35 million passenger miles in 1939 to 136 million in 1945. Public goods traffic rose from 45 million ton-miles in 1939 to 81 million in 1945. These services can look with pride on the part they have played in carrying, without any increase in rolling stock, the burdens which have resulted from the war.
“At the end of the year traffic was still rising, but the completion of demobilisation in 1946 will result in some diminution of the passenger traffic. In this period of rapid change it is difficult to forecast the position of the services during the next few years. It is hoped that, though revenues may fall, it will be possible to adjust working expenditure to such an extent as will enable a healthy net revenue position to be maintained. If this can be done, the capital investment so necessary to enable these services to play a full part in the development of the Territory can safely be undertaken.”
“In 1944, Sir Reginald Robins, the General Manager of the Kenya and Uganda Railways, had predicted that peace would bring “a considerable diminution of the demands made on the railways and a consequent fall in the revenue.” In his Annual Report for the year 1946, Sir Reginald wrote: “Few, if any, of those connected with business and shipping could foresee the amazing recovery in the import of goods from overseas. It was remarkable how quickly the momentum of the United Kingdom’s export drive gathered speed, and even more remarkable how ships in such numbers were diverted, on the completion of their tasks of carrying troops from overseas theatres of war, to cargo services.”
“The predictions of the two General Managers were wide of the mark, although they were in accord with the majority of well-informed opinion at the time. Perhaps there was too great a tendency to think in terms of 1919, and to under-estimate the release of spending power in search of goods which followed six years of war. In the case of Tanganyika, Mr. Farquharson could not foresee, at the time, the tremendous demands which the East African Groundnuts Scheme would impose on the railways.
“In the December of 1945, a non-Parliamentary paper on Inter-Territorial Reorganisation in East Africa proposed inter alia, a complete amalgamation of the Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours with the Tanganyika Railways and Ports Services, and the establishment of a Railways and Ports Advisory Board for the combined services. Unfortunately, the political implications of the paper provoked a controversy which distracted public attention from the proposals concerning the railways and harbours. It was unfortunate that these issues were virtually ignored in a contentious political argument, for there is no doubt that the paper offered a logical solution of many persistent problems. In the upshot the amalgamation of the two transport systems was postponed for more than two years.
“During 1946 there was a small decrease of first-class travel on the Tanganyika Railways, but an increase of third-class travel, caused mainly by the large number of troops carried after demobilisation, a movement completed in July, and the carriage of 5,600 members of the Ismailia community to Dar es Salaam during July and August to attend the Jubilee celebrations of H.H. the Aga Khan. The goods traffic increased, from 357.359 tons in 1945 to 373,823 tons in 1946. Financially the railways did very much better than during the last year of the war, and the net profit of £310,984 was the highest yet recorded and enabled £203,060 to be allocated to the Renewals Funds. For the time being, the passenger traffic passed its peak in 1946, but there was to be a further rapid increase from 1948 onwards. There was no check to the mounting volume of goods traffic for several years ahead.
“In his Annual Report for 1946, Mr. Farquharson wrote: “There are indications that goods traffic had reached or was approaching a post-war peak, but the decision of His Majesty’s Government to proceed with the Groundnuts Scheme in areas served by the existing lines has completely altered the traffic prospects during the next few years. The estimated traffic for the areas exceeds the capacity of the existing goods wagons and arrangements are in train to obtain second-hand stock from military sources and to procure supplies of new stock from the United Kingdom. Until these additional wagons are available, congestion will occur on the Central line.” [1: p264-266]
Hill continues:
“In the June of 1946 the Charter of the United Nations was adopted by the Security Conference held in San Francisco. Article 75 of the Charter stated:
“The United Nations shall establish under its authority an international trusteeship system for the administration and supervision of such territories as may be placed there-under by subsequent individual agreements. These territories are hereafter referred to as Trust Territories.” [1: p266]
Article 77 stated:
“1. The trusteeship systems shall apply to such territories in the following categories as may be placed thereunder by means of trusteeship agreements:
(a) Territories now held under mandate.
(b) Territories which may be detached from enemy states as a result of the Second World War; and
(c) Territories voluntarily placed under the system by states responsible for their administration.
“2. It will be a matter for subsequent agreement as to which territories in the foregoing categories will be brought under the trusteeship system and upon what terms.” [1: p266]
By an Agreement with the United Nations His Majesty’s Government undertook to administer Tanganyika as a Trust Territory. The Agreement required that the Territory should be administered for the benefit of all sections of the population, irrespective of race or religion. The terms of the Agreement [could not] be changed without the consent of the Government of the United Kingdom. The recognition that the British Government intended to administer Tanganyika until the ultimate goal of self-government be reached, and that the rights and interests of all communities would be secured and protected, led to a greater measure of confidence in the political future and a consequent increase of capital investment.
Hill continues:
“For some years before the war consideration had been given to a long-range development programme. In December 1937, a Central Development Committee was appointed to examine and report on methods whereby development by native and non-native enterprise could best be encouraged and assisted. The outbreak of war interrupted the Committee’s work, but its admirable report, for which Sir George Sandford was largely responsible, was published in 1940. … During the war it was impossible to implement many of the Development Committee’s recommendations, but towards the end of 1943 a programme of post-war planning was drafted. A special development branch was set up in the Secretariat to re-examine, in collaboration with a Planning Committee, the position in the light of the changed conditions and circumstances. At the end of 1944 a memorandum entitled ‘An Outline of Post-War Development Proposals’ was published. The programme outlined in this memorandum was designed as the framework within which development should be carried out and not as a complete plan in itself. In 1946 it was decided that the planning and direction of development should no longer be regarded as part of the Secretariat’s functions and that the responsibility should be transferred to a separate organisation which could pay undivided attention to them. A Development Commission was, therefore, appointed. In September 1946, the report of the Commission, setting forth a ten-year development and welfare plan for the Territory, was published. It was approved by His Majesty’s Government in January 1947, subject to the provision of additional funds for African education and to the setting up of machinery to provide financial assistance for African farmers. The estimated cost of the plan was £19,186,000. The urgent need for the improvement of Tanganyika’s road system was recognised, and over £3.5 million was allocated for the realignment and reconstruction of certain main roads to bitumen standard and for the improvement of subsidiary roads. The ill-fated East African Groundnuts Scheme had its origin in a world shortage of edible oils and fats which seemed likely to continue for a long time. Proposals for such a scheme were first considered by His Majesty’s Government early in 1946. After a thorough investigation and a most optimistic report which paid inadequate heed to several vital factors, including the notorious variation in the yield of the groundnut crop along the Central line, the scheme was approved. It was proposed, within a few years, to bring into cultivation over 3,000,000 acres of land in Tanganyika, Kenya and Northern Rhodesia. Nearly 80 per cent. of the total acreage projected was to be in Tanganyika. The first areas to be developed, at Kongwa and Urambo, were served by the Central line, but by far the largest area planned was in the Southern Province. This entailed the building of a new railway and a new port equipped with deep-water berths.” [1: p266-268]
For more about the Southern Line and the Groundnuts Scheme, please click here [4] and here. [Part 12]
The railways also sought to provide effective transport for minerals extracted across the country:
Mwadui Mine (Williamson’s Diamonds Ltd) – in 1947, a 9 mile ‘siding’ was provided from the Mwanza Branch to serve the Mwadui Mine.
Mpanda (Uruwira Minerals Ltd) – a branch line from Kaliua on the Central Line to Mpanda was opened in August 1950.
“During the years 1946 to 1948, the road services continued to operate under very difficult conditions, with inadequate workshop facilities and an unsuitable fleet of vehicles. Many of the lorries had been bought during the war, and they were worked hard without thought of a long life. Early in 1948, the Road Services’ fleet of vehicles consisted of 250 assorted units, but many had been fully depreciated and were waiting their turn to be scrapped. Nevertheless, the mounting volume of traffic was carried, rates were kept at a reasonable level and the revenue earned by the Road Services steadily increased. In 1947, the surplus, after repayment of loan charges, was £23.303. but it was becoming clear that the provision for renewals (£27.450 in 1947) was inadequate. Orders were placed for large diesel-engined units which later became the mainstay of the freight service by road.” [1: p270]
“During 1947, a new passenger road service was started between Arusha and Dodoma, a passenger and goods service was started between Arusha and Oldeani, and when the Singida line was closed, it was replaced by a road service between Singida and Itigi. … It was decided in 1946 that the railway should run its own catering services. Previously the catering in the dining cars had been undertaken by contractors and the railway’s hotels at Dodoma and Tabora had beenleased to private concerns. In May the hotel at Dodoma was taken over and completely rebuilt to cope with the passenger traffic which had been greatly increased by the road service.” [1: p270-271]
Hill continues:
“Between the May and November of 1947 six new M.L. 2-8-2 engines arrived from the United Kingdom. Although they were adequate to meet immediate needs, it was clear that more engines would be needed to meet the estimated volume of traffic in 1948 and 1949. There was no prospect of obtaining new engines in under three years. Again a widespread search was made for metre-gauge engines which were for sale. Four new Garratt locomotives, suitable for operation on the Central line, were found at Rangoon and bought from the War Office. They arrived at Dar-es-Salaam in the May of 1948 and gave excellent service. Sixteen American-built ‘MacArthur’ engines were also bought from the Malayan Railway, which was then taking delivery of new engines from the United Kingdom.
“After some delay the first shipment of eight ‘MacArthur’ engines was received late in 1948. One was erected to ensure that they were capable of giving satisfactory service. The trial was sufficiently encouraging to warrant confirmation of the order for the remaining eight engines. It was first planned to erect these engines as they were needed, as the 430 wagons obtained from Shaiba and El Shatt came into service and as additional staff was available. Later it was decided to provide a margin of engine power more quickly and an erecting team was flown from Nairobi to tackle the task of erection.
“These ‘MacArthur’ engines were supposed to be of the same American design, but they had been manufactured by three different firms and each had changed certain details of the design. Generally, they were a rough war-time production. The construction of the tender water-tanks was weak and they had to be rebuilt. The valve-gear and the reversing gear was also re-designed, and most of the new parts were made in Nairobi and fitted in Dar-es-Salaam. Due to the limited capacity of the Dar-es-Salaam workshops, six of the engines were dismantled and brought to Nairobi, where they were completely overhauled and the new parts fitted. The ‘MacArthurs’ were not well suited to burning wood fuel, but after they were converted to oil firing their performance greatly improved. Although built only to meet a war-time need, they have given reasonably good service on the Central line – so much so that they are not due to be scrapped until 1963.
“In addition to the four Garratt and 16 ‘MacArthur’ engines, four engines, built at the Ajmer workshops in India and found lying idle at El Shatt, were bought at a nominal price. They were intended only for secondary and departmental use and as an insurance against delay in the delivery of other units. These four second-hand engines met a limited need and were in use until 1957.
“The tonnage handled at the port of Dar-es-Salaam increased from 270,000 tons in 1945 to over 439,000 tons in 1947 and over 504,000 tons in 1948. The Groundnuts Scheme imposed a very severe strain on the facilities, equipment and staff of the port, although its capacity was considerably increased to cope with the mounting traffic. Heavy cargoes for Kongwa had to be off-loaded over a lighterage wharf. There were not enough lighters, quay space, shed space and stacking grounds and many of the cargoes arriving for the Groundnuts Scheme were awkward to handle. In the upshot much of the equipment, then regarded as an urgent need at Kongwa or Urambo, was never used. A shipment of fertilisers was dumped at the back of the port area and railed up-country over a period. As late as 1952 a large quantity of these fertilisers was still lying unused in the open at Urambo. In addition to the demands of Kongwa and Urambo, normal import traffic increased rapidly during the post-war years and the transit traffic to the Belgian Congo was also heavy.
“Despite all the difficulties, the Tanganyika Railways earned a record profit in 1947. The combined earnings of the railways and the ports were £1,883,996. Expenditure was £1,252,289. After paying loan charges of £307,214, the net profit was £318,493 and allocations to the Renewals Funds were £287,450. The liability of the railways under the various loans was £4,348,465 and the accumulated sinking fund was £978,533.” [1: p271-272]
In the last 8 to 9 pages of his narrative, Hill tells the story of the final months of the independent existence of Tanganyika Railways and Ports Services. Public opinion became positively disposed to an inter-territorial reorganisation in East Africa. By 1st January 1948 the East Africa High Commission and the East Africa Central Assembly were established.
On 21st April 1948, the General manager of Tanganyika Railways and Ports Services proposed the amalgamation of the Tanganyika Railways and Ports Services with the Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours. In doing so he outlined the advantages and the disadvantages of the proposal. He said:
“In the first place, I would stress … the essential geographic and economic unity in these territories. … Secondly, it appears to me that both inside and outside the Territory the present strength of the finances of the Tanganyika Railways and Ports Services has been underestimated. … Thirdly, I should like to mention briefly the position regarding the lines being built principally in connection with the Overseas Food Corporation. The branch now under construction from Msagali to Kongwa and Hororo is being financed from railway funds with no guarantees from the Corporation. The questions of finance and guarantees in connection with the Port Works at Mikindani and the railway being built from the port to the groundnut areas have recently been discussed with Sir Charles Lockhart, a director of the Corporation. Provisional agreement has been reached in terms which are generally in accord with standards prescribed in the motion which was approved by a neighbouring legislature when considering the question of amalgamation. I would add that though the Groundnuts Scheme has added considerably to the present transport problems, it should be remembered that this big increment of traffic, leading to a spread of fixed costs and hence in the long run to lower rates for other users, has brought long-term benefits which should not be under-estimated.
“Advantages likely to accrue from amalgamation … the application of a uniform rating structure. … The new tariff … will, subject to the qualification that variations may be necessary from other causes, be generally be below the present Tanganyi8ka level. … Of much more fundamental importance … is the gain which will accrue to East Africa as a result of the removal of the break in tapered rates. … [There is an] almost universal policy of tapering goods rates, i.e, as distance increases the charge per mile decreases. With two railway systems in East Africa there is a discontinuity … in the rate at the inter-change point, so that charges for goods passing from one system to the other are generally higher per mile than movements of the same distance over one system. … The internal movement of traffic is certain to increase, and the increasing inter-territorial movements will be greatly facilitated by the uniform tariff. It would in practice be very difficult for two administrations to operate a uniform tariff, as this would in effect prevent either administration from controlling its own revenue.
“The second major advantage of amalgamation is the ability of the larger system to withstand reduction in earnings arising from droughts or from depressions in specific industries. This in turn leads to greater financial stability and consequent capacity to pursue a steady financial policy and to plan development projects farther ahead than would otherwise be possible. This is a matter of great importance if the transport services are to be well planned to meet adequately the needs of East Africa.
“The amalgamation will facilitate the adoption of the rolling stock standards (as regards the dimensions, the form of braking and the type of coupler), the structure gauge and most important the track gauge already agreed for the whole of Southern Africa. The policy of standardisation is being followed now but it will become more effective under one administration. It seems probable, with the developments now envisaged in Africa, that the question of converting the East African lines from metre gauge to 3 feet 6 inches will have to be tackled during the next ten or perhaps twenty years when a junction is effected with the Rhodesian system. The change of gauge will be a fairly lengthy process, will involve a number of temporary diversions in traffic flows and will be greatly facilitated if the lines are under a single direction.” [1: p272-275]
We can plan for but never fully anticipate the future! While the railways were under colonial control many of these arguments hold sway, but considerably less so once the various countries gained their independence. Ultimately, also, the change of gauge was not to occur. The TAZARA carried the 3ft 6 in gauge through to Dar-es-Salaam but no attempt was made to convert the East African network to a common 3ft 6in gauge! Plans in the twenty-first century are for a standard-gauge network rather than a narrow-gauge network.
Farquharson contines:
“The relatively minor advantages of amalgamation may be listed – better designed timetables for passengers, simpler tariffs for users and quicker adjustment of engines and rolling stock to meet changing traffic demands.
“Some possible disadvantages [Include]: … the increase in size of the organisation might produce, at least in the early stages, some reduction in efficiency; … the transport administration might pursue policies as regards its organisation and the quality of its services which were detrimental to Tanganyika.
“In my view the advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages, but nevertheless it has been considered expedient to specify certain safeguards which should ensure that as far as practicable the possible disadvantages will not be experienced. The Territory will, of course, have through the machinery being set up a substantial voice in the policy to be followed by the unified undertaking. In addition, it is proposed that the unified undertaking should not assume control until the arrangements for, firstly, representation on the various advisory bodies and, secondly, the organisation of the new undertaking (so far as it concerns Tanganyika) have been accepted by the Tanganyika Government. … Joint undertakings of this type may be of three types: firstly, those in which the constituents obtain approximately equal benefits; secondly, those in which the constituents obtain widely varying benefits, and thirdly, those in which some parties receive substantial benefits while others incur net losses. It is fully expected that the new undertaking will be of the first type, but all parties will gain substantially. One factor, however, may tend to influence public opinion in Tanganyika towards the view that the new undertaking will fall into the third category. I refer to the question of part of the import and export needs of the Northern and Lake Provinces being met through the port of Mombasa rather than through the ports of Tanga and Dar es Salaam. In fact, the unified railway will, except perhaps in times of stress, not be greatly interested in which route is used. The Territory, apart from the railway, has a considerable interest in moving the bulk or all of the traffic through Tanganyika and will be free, as it always has been, to take such action as is considered appropriate to safeguard the interests of the Territory. It may then be argued that any action by Government in this direction would be contrary to acceptance of the view that East Africa has an economic unity. Though the territories form a geographic and economic unity, they have varying forms of British administration. Tanganyika in particular is specifically required to safeguard the interests of its inhabitants and the Territory as a component of the East African unit is clearly entitled to take such action as appears necessary to safeguard its interests provided such actions are not detrimental to the interests of East Africa as a whole. … The diversion of traffic from Mombasa to Tanganyika ports would not appear to be detrimental to theEast African economy.” [1: 275-276]
Some objections to the proposal were placed and some amendments were tabled, an adjournment was also proposed. The British Government made it clear that amendments/adjournments would not be acceptable. That the objections on constitutional grounds had no merit. “The proposed amalgamation is, the Secretary of State has advised, entirely consistent with Article 5(b) of the Trusteeship Agreement which permits administering authorities to establish common services between Trust Territories and neighbouring territories under His Majesty’s control. The Secretary of State is confident that in carrying out their responsibilities the High Commission will be constantly aware of their duties to promote the economic interest of the inhabitants of Tanganyika. The Secretary of State adds that an efficient transport system is vital to all these interests, as indeed it will be to the benefit of the whole future of East Africa.” [1: p276-276]
The motion as tabled by Mr Farquharson was carried, as were similar motions in the Legislative Councils of Kenya and Uganda. An order was made on 1st May 1948 amalgamating the two separate companies into one transport system to be known as the ‘East African Railways and Harbours’. A Commissioner of Transport was appointed, Sir Reginald Robins, and in his first annual report he wrote:
“Much has been done in a short time towards achieving the main objective of amalgamation, i.e. to weld the transport system into one closely integrated homogeneous organisation designed to provide the maximum transport facilities for the people of East Africa at the lowest real cost and on a non-profit basis.
“There have been exchanges of views and methods by technical officers, designed to secure a standard of the best methods to be adopted. Assistance has been rendered where it is most required by drawing on the pool of experts created by amalgamation. Work has been started on the preparation of a common tariff and common conditions of service. Comprehensive Transport Legislation is in the course of preparation; transport developments in Tanganyika have been financed from the joint resources.
“But much remains to be done. The problems falling on the East African Railways and Harbours are immense, the resources limited. Great developments are taking place in Tanganyika, still greater developments there are contemplated with the posibility of surveying and building of new railways. Great developments are in hand in Uganda which will make heavy demands on the transport system in connection with the hydro-electric scheme at Jinja, and the possible development of the copper mines at Kilembe. Yet, as is shown in the General Manager’s report, the system is still short of sufficient equipment to deal adequately with present demands. The financial question is also a very serious one; all the fluid resources are being used and temporary borrowings incurred to finance existing projects, mainly in Tanganyika. There are restrictions and difficulties in raising fresh capital, yet daily fresh demands are made involving additional transport developments which cannot be financed from the existing resources of the Administration. If these restrictions and difficulties persist, there will be no alternative but to restrict some of the development projects in the three East African territories in spite of the demand for the full development of the Colonial Empire as a contribution to world recovery. In almost every development scheme transport is the key, and it is absolutely essential that the fitting of the transport system to deal with any development should precede the inauguration of the scheme and not to put the transport question last in such considerations, or even to develop the transport system at the same time as the major scheme. That will only lead to difficulties and failure. These arguments, which are related to finance, apply with equal force to the supply of transport equipment.
“Among the other problems which still remain to be settled are the introduction of a common braking system for the two sections, replacement of the present out-of-date coupler by a modern and stronger coupler, the provision of a rail connection between all sections of the amalgamated system, and decisions as to the conversion of the system from metre to 3 foot 6 inch gauge. For financial and supply reasons, some of these projects must be regarded as long-term projects, but, nevertheless, work is proceeding on them.
“Immense tasks face the Transport Administration. Immense tasks faced the two systems in the war, but they were met and overcome. The Commissioner is convinced that the present tasks will be met and overcome in the same spirit, provided that the tolerance, support and encouragement of the people who use the transport system are forthcoming. He is satisfied that the staff is as anxious as he is to provide the best possible transport system in East Africa, and he would like to pay a tribute to them for their loyalty and help during the difficult period of amalgamation. He also gratefully acknowledges the help and assistance he received from the Governments of Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda.” [1: p278-279]
Hill’s narrative ends with the amalgamation. His book contains two Appendices which are included after the References and Notes below.
Referencesand Notes
M.F. Hill; Permanent Way Volume II: The Story of the Tanganyika Railways; East African Railways and Habours, Nairobi, Kenya; Watson & Viney, Aylesbury & Slough, 1957.
Snowden writes: “In October 1940 the Tanganyika Government asked the Tanganyika Railways and Port Services (TR&PS) to run a road service between Morogoro on the Central Line and Korogwe on the Tanga Line, a distance of 178 miles. The TR&PS were asked to run this service because a lack of shipping and the irregularity of sailings meant that it was becoming increasingly difficult to move goods between Tanga and Dar-es-Salaam. ‘This has proved most successful,’ Mr Robins (General Manager) wrote, ‘and in view of the decrease of coastal shipping services has fulfilled a most useful function. The service became an integral part of the transport services at the end of the year. The rather primitive facilities will be improved as opportunity permits.’ … In 1942, a first class bus service, using a number of 7 -seater safari cars built on 10-cwt chassis, was introduced between Morogoro and Korogwe. The fares charged were double the normal second-class fare on the ordinary bus. This service proved extremely successful and by 1943 demand was so heavy, especially for carrying troops, that all ordinary goods traffic was diverted to the sea route between Tanga and Dar-es-Salaam – only passengers and baggage were carried by road. … In 1942 the TR&PS were asked by the Government to provide a road service from Dodoma to the Southern Highlands. This service was inaugurated on 1st January 1943. At the time there was a shortage of vehicles in Tanganyika and consequently the railways had to purchase second-hand vehicles. Many of them were in a bad state of repair, there was a shortage of spares, roads were bad, the drivers poorly trained and there was a lack of suitable workshop facilities for proper maintenance. Despite these difficulties, by 1944 the service was able to carry not only the normal traffic to and from the Southern Highlands but also large quantities of food for famine relief, labour to and from the sisal and rubber plantations and provide transport support for the refugee camps in the Southern Highlands. In 1944, a road service was started from Mombo to Lushoto, … During the years 1946 to 1948 the Road Services continued to operate under very difficult conditions with inadequate workshop facilities and unsuitable vehicles. Many of the vehicles had been bought during the war, had been worked hard and were in poor condition. Although in 1948 the Road Services’ fleet consisted of 250 assorted vehicles many had been fully depreciated and were waiting their turn to be scrapped. Despite these problems, the volume of traffic carried increased, rates were kept at a reasonable level and the revenue earned steadily increased. Orders were placed for large diesel-engine vehicles that later became the mainstay of the road service fleet. … During 1947, a new passenger road service was started between Arusha and Dodoma, a passenger and goods service between Arusha and Oldeani and when the Singida line was closed it was replaced by a road service between Singida and Itigi.” [2]
After Easter 2026, we spent a few days at Borth on Cardigan Bay, North of Aberystwyth. We took the opportunity to visit Aberystwyth and to travel on the Cliff Railway.
Aberystwyth Cliff Railway is the longest electrically operated cliff railway in the UK. It sits at the North end of Aberystwyth’s promenade. Constitution Hill provides views over the town and Cardigan Bay. On a really good day, as many as twenty-six mountain peaks can be seen from the summit. [1]
Aberystwyth Cliff Railway has been transporting visitors to the summit of Constitution Hill since 1st August 1896. It is a 778 feet (237m) long funicular railway, and is the second longest funicular railway in the British Isles after the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway. Since November 1987, the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway has been a Grade II listed structure. [1][2]
The Cliff Railway as seen on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1904, published in 1906. [3]
For the first 25 years of its life the railway operated via a water balance system. Electrification occurred in 1921.
The cars have a maximum capacity of 30 passengers, permanently connected via a continuous cable. The original water balance system used a Worthington Corporation compound steam engine water pump housed in the lower station to move water to the upper station. Each passenger car had a tank in its chassis that could hold 4 tonnes of water. Water was added to the tank of the top car, which descended under gravity, hauling the lighter lower car on the parallel track to the top station. [5]
The railway is straight, ascending about 430 feet (130 m) over a horizontal distance of 778 feet (237 m), a maximum gradient of more than 1 in 2 (50%). The 4 ft 10 in (1,473 mm), slightly broader than standard gauge, and laid on timber sleepers. [5]
“The unique design of the undulating track and tilted carriages is the work of George Croydon Marks. A man who played a key role in several projects during the golden age of funicular construction. He would later make his name in politics as Lord Marks, the liberal peer.” [1]
As we have already noted the railway was electrified using a 41 kW ATB AG [de] Morley DC motor in 1921. In 1934, after changes to the town’s electricity supply, a mercury arc rectifier and transformer were installed in the lower station to provide a 440V DC power output. The cars are moved using a high-tensile steel cable attached to both vehicles. It passes around a drum, mounted on a vertical axis between the tracks at the top. The motor drives the drum controlled by an automated cut-off which stops the motor and the cars when required. [5]
“The carriages are brought to the summit at a stately 4 miles per hour. They are powered by a powerful motor and high-tensile steel cables supported by a sophisticated electronic safety system. At the midpoint of the journey, the railway ventures through a deep cutting, where 12,000 tons of rock was excavated to allow the winding footpath to cross via a series of bridges overhead.” [1]
Its twin carriages are named Lord Geraint and Lord Marks. [6]
The Cliff Railway as seen on the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1948, published in 1953. [4]
“Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the cliff railway was popular with visitors but during and after the Second World War, passenger numbers declined significantly. In 1948, seeking to revive its fortunes, the Aberystwyth Pier Company bought it and carried out repairs and upgrades. The new owners were unable to increase passenger numbers.” [5]
In 1976, a fault developed in the railways breaking system and it was closed briefly. In the late 1970s, “a local mining company acquired a majority stake and formed the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway Company to operate it. In 1978 a new electrical system was installed which is used to the present day. It takes its power from and returns surplus energy to the National Grid.” [5]
More recent key dates:
1987 – recognised as Grade II listed structure.
1998 – purchased by Constitution Hill Ltd.
2005 – upper station refurbished (with café and gift shop).
2014 – roof repairs undertaken and ramps and other adaptations made to improve accessibility – better protection from the elements, a small car park at the station (very small!), wheelchair and guide dog friendly trains, a passenger lift providing wheelchair access from the train to the summit, and once there, wheelchair friendly pathways across the site. [1]
The featured image for this article shows a Tata Chemicals locomotive at work on the metre-gauge line near Magadi. [9][cf. 6]
A. Railways Africa recently reported:
East African Governments Ramp Up Rail Investment in 2026/27 Budgets
“East Africa’s latest budget allocations show rail moving higher up the public investment agenda, with governments linking railway development to logistics efficiency, urban mobility and regional trade competitiveness. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are each approaching the sector from different starting points, but the common direction is clear: rail is being positioned as a strategic infrastructure tool, not only a transport asset.
Africa Star Railway Operation Company (Afristar) is the company that runs the SGR in Kenya, it is a subsidiary of the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). It has been the operator of Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) since its launch. However, the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) has been gradually taking over these operations, with full control expected in 2027. [10][11]
“The figures also point to a wider corridor logic across the region. Uganda’s Malaba–Kampala SGR, Tanzania’s continued SGR construction and rehabilitation programme, and Kenya’s rail allocations all sit within the broader ambition of improving inland connectivity, reducing logistics costs and strengthening access between ports, production centres and landlocked markets.
“East African governments are significantly increasing investment in railway infrastructure in their 2026/27 national budgets, with Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania allocating billions of shillings to expand rail networks, modernise transport systems and improve regional trade connectivity.
“In Kenya, Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury, John Mbadi Ng’ongo, announced a proposed allocation of KSh38.4 billion for railway projects as part of the government’s transport infrastructure programme.
From Naivasha to Malaba, construction of the SGR expansion was due to start in July 2026. [12] The project will reshape logistics, lower transport costs and boost connectivity across counties. This project stands as a symbol of progress and long-term economic planning in motion.
“The allocation forms part of a broader effort to improve public transport and logistics infrastructure.
“To improve urban mobility, the government has also proposed KSh582 million for the Nairobi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project, aimed at reducing traffic congestion in the capital.
“Meanwhile, Uganda has continued prioritising railway development through substantial infrastructure spending.
“Finance, Planning and Economic Development Minister Henry Musasizi announced the commencement of the construction of the 273-kilometre Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) linking Malaba and Kampala.
“Once completed, the railway is expected to reduce the cost of transporting containers from Mombasa to Kampala from approximately US$3,500 to US$1,600, while cutting transit times from five days to one day.
“Musasizi revealed that the rehabilitation of the Tororo–Gulu Metre Gauge Railway has reached 66% completion, while works on the Kampala–Mukono section have been completed.
“Uganda has allocated Shs8.79 trillion for transport infrastructure development in the next financial year, with priority given to the construction of the Malaba–Kampala Standard Gauge Railway and completion of the metre gauge railway rehabilitation programme.
“In Tanzania, the government has allocated 1.27 trillion Tanzanian shillings for the construction and rehabilitation of railway infrastructure, including 1.12 trillion shillings dedicated to the Standard Gauge Railway programme.
“The government said construction of the Dar es Salaam–Dodoma SGR sections, covering Lots 1 and 2, has been completed and is now operational.
“According to Finance Minister Ambassador Khamis Mussa Omar, the government views the Standard Gauge Railway as a key component of its broader economic transformation strategy.
“The railway, together with Msalato International Airport, will support the development of Dodoma into a modern administrative capital, a regional transport and logistics hub and a centre for sustainable urban development.
“Tanzania also plans to continue implementing the TAZARA Railway Revitalisation Project and advance construction of the Standard Gauge Railway from Dodoma to Mwanza and Isaka to Kigoma.
“According to the government, these projects are expected to stimulate economic activity across multiple regions by improving transport efficiency, strengthening regional trade corridors and leveraging Tanzania’s strategic geographic position.” [1]
In 2009, the East African Community produced the East African Railway Master Plan, [3] a proposal for upgrading the railways serving Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, and building new railways to serve Rwanda and Burundi. Evidence of progress in development of SGR routes is manifest, but the pace of development has been relatively slow.
B. On Sunday 28th June 2026, The East African reported:
Uganda locks funds for joint SGR as Kenya plan stalls
President William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni during the official launch of the Kisumu-Malaba Standard Gauge Railway at Kibos in Kisumu County on 21st March 2026, (c) Alex Odhiambo, Nation Media Group. [2]
“Uganda expects to conclude financing arrangements for its €2.7 billion ($3 billion) standard gauge railway (SGR) project within the next few months after securing a major funding commitment from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), bringing the long-delayed infrastructure initiative closer to financial close than at any point in the past decade.” [2]
“But Kenya, with which Kampala is building the cross-border project, is struggling to raise about $4 billion for the extension of its line from Naivasha in the Central Rift to Malaba on the border, with the Treasury confirming the project will not proceed under public private partnership as earlier advised.” [2]
C. Magadi Soda Works and Branch line
Thanks to ‘Class442’ on RailUKForums [4] for pointing this out.
Tata-Owned Locomotive Catches Fire
A locomotive operated by Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd, which transports soda ash from Lake Magadi to Mombasa, caught fire on 1st July 2026, at or near Simba station in Kajiado County. The branch line between Magadi and Konza where it encounters the Nairobj-Mombasa metre-gauge line is managed as a private line by Magadi Ltd. It was a company locomotive that caught fire while travelling on the main line near Simba.
This MapCarta extract shows the town of Simba at the left side of the image, with both the metre-gauge line (MGR) and the more modern standard-gauge line (SGR). The MGR railway station is in the town. The SGR station is about 4 kilometres East of the town of Simba. [5]
Online (Instagram Video) can be found on these links:
First responders were local people. They took a number of photographs of which this is one. Flames engulfed the train as emergency responders and members of the public worked to contain the fire. [6]
Kenya Digest reports:
“A cargo train fire at Simba Station has prompted investigations as authorities work to determine what caused the incident and assess the extent of the damage. The train, operated by Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd, caught fire on June 1, 2026, leading to an emergency response along the Magadi rail corridor.
Kenya Railways confirmed the incident in a statement issued late Wednesday night, saying the cargo train burst into flames while carrying out its normal operations.
Emergency teams were quickly sent to the scene to contain the fire, support recovery efforts, and begin assessing what may have led to the incident.
According to preliminary findings released by Kenya Railways, the fire is believed to have started after mechanical damage affected the locomotive’s fuel tank.
Officials suspect the damage caused fuel to leak before it ignited, resulting in the blaze. However, the corporation stressed that these are only early findings and that investigations are still underway to establish the exact cause of the fire and the sequence of events.
Kenya Railways said investigators are examining all available evidence before reaching a final conclusion. The corporation noted that more details will be made public once the investigation has been completed.
The railway operator also confirmed that it is working closely with Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd, the owners of the cargo train, as both parties seek to understand what happened. Management teams from both organisations are coordinating recovery operations while technical experts continue inspecting the affected locomotive.
The cargo train operates along the Magadi rail corridor, an important industrial railway that has served the region for many years.
The line plays a key role in transporting soda ash and other industrial cargo from Magadi to different parts of the country, supporting manufacturing and other economic activities.
By the time the incident was reported, no casualties had been officially confirmed. The absence of reported injuries was welcomed, although the fire has raised fresh questions about the condition of industrial locomotives and the importance of regular maintenance to reduce the risk of similar incidents.
The latest fire also comes at a time when the government is continuing efforts to revive and modernise Kenya’s metre-gauge railway network. The rehabilitation programme is intended to improve transport options for businesses and passengers while making greater use of existing railway infrastructure across the country.
Kenya Railways has assured the public that it remains committed to establishing the facts surrounding the incident.
Officials have urged patience as technical assessments continue, saying a comprehensive report will provide a clearer picture of what caused the fire and whether any additional safety measures will be required to help prevent similar incidents in the future.” [6]
‘Class442’ points out that this is not the first incident associated with Magadi Ltd. Two years ago on 9th July 2026, there was an accident on the Magadi-Konza line.
Kenya Railways noted that the train in the accident that claimed one life, was operated privately by Tata Chemicals Magadi Limited. [7]
Maria Silantoi of Swala Nyeti reported in July 2024: “According to witnesses and police, on 9th July 2024, the train carrying 59 passengers was heading towards Kajiado town from Magadi when it rolled backwards along a steep section of the track. Local residents believe the accident was caused by a combination of factors, including rampant vandalism of the railway line and poor visibility due to recent heavy rains. Concerns have been raised about the increasing frequency of such vandalism by scrap metal dealers, who reportedly evade capture by patrolling officers. … The ill-fated train service provided a vital and affordable public transport option for residents in remote villages of Kajiado West Sub-county, offering a Sh70 fare for a journey of approximately 135 kilometres. This service was established specifically to address the transportation challenges faced by these local communities. Previously, reaching Kajiado through the Kiserian-Isinya route could cost up to Sh700 and take as long as four hours. … The tragedy highlights the urgent need for improved railway infrastructure security and maintenance in the region. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the importance of prioritizing safety measures to prevent such devastating accidents on crucial public transport routes.” [8]
D. Biza Kenya reportson 2nd July 2026
Construction of the Malaba Extension Begins
The 475-kilometre Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba SGR project forms a vital section of the Northern Corridor transport network, which is expected to boost trade with East African countries and cement Kenya’s role as the region’s logistics hub. [12][13]
Kenya Railways has officially commenced construction on the 475-kilometre Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba Standard Gauge Railway, with the Sh700 billion project now underway in Narok County, which hosts approximately 100 kilometres of the corridor.
The project is divided into Phase 2B (Naivasha-Kisumu), covering 264 kilometres with an 8.69-kilometre branch line to Kisumu Port, and Phase 2C (Kisumu-Malaba), covering 107 kilometres through Siaya, Vihiga, Kakamega and Busia counties.
The entire Naivasha-Malaba extension is targeted for completion by June or August 2027. Land acquisition is ongoing, with compensation planned for over 3,500 landowners. [12]
E. The Citizen Reported on Saturday 14th March 2026:
Tanzania Begins Local Assembly of Locomotives
Tanzania has begun assembling Metre Gauge Railway (MGR) locomotives locally, The TRC claimed that they were the first country in East Africa to undertake such an initiative, the Citizen reports. The full article can be read here. [14]
The move has drawn praise from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Infrastructure, which recently visited the site, according to a statement issued by the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) on Saturday.
During an inspection visit to the locomotive assembly project at the Pugu Railway Workshop, the committee urged TRC to continue strengthening the skills of Tanzanian youth involved in the programme through advanced technical training both locally and abroad.
The committee was informed that the decision to assemble locomotives locally was partly prompted by delays in the delivery of spare parts from suppliers, caused by global supply chain disruptions linked to the Russia–Ukraine War.
To address the delays, TRC imported two fully assembled locomotives from Malaysia, while the remaining components were shipped to Tanzania for assembly at the Pugu workshop.
The featured image for this article is a stained glass window in Emneth Parish Church which is a memorial to Revd. Wilbert Vere Awdry who served as the incumbent of the parish from 1953 to 1965. [9]
In his book ‘The World the Railways Made’, in a chapter entitled ‘The Habits the Railways Changed’, and after a discussion of the dramatic effect the railways had on the consumption of different foodstuffs, Nicholas Faith talks of the food the railways carried not only being physical:
“It was also spiritual, enabling pilgrims to travel far more easily. But there were natural hesitations before God-fearing folk were prepared to use such an obviously secular phenomenon. The Russian bishops, for instance, were afraid that ‘pilgrims would come to the monastery [Sergiev Posad (now Zagorsk), site of the sacred Troitsk monastery] in railway cars, in which all sorts of tales can be heard, and often dirty stories, whereas now they come on foot and each step is a feat pleasing to God’. Despite this reluctance, the Metropolitan himself opened the line from Moscow to the holy spot, and by the time the Trans-Siberian was opened, the church was happy to commission a splendid ‘church car’ to minister to the congregations en route. [2]
“The pattern was repeated with different religions throughout the world. The first railway in what was then called Persia was a narrow-gauge line which ran six miles from Tehran to a shrine in the village of Shah Abdul Azim. [3] In Japan at least two railways served important shrines, at Ise and a special line from Oji to the temples at Nara. By the 1890s there was a convenient stop for pilgrims to pay their homage to Mount Fuji.
“Some of the promoters of the first railways in India had hoped to spread Christianity, others were afraid that pilgrims would not use them to travel to their sacred shrines. According to Herbert Spencer, Robert Stephenson referred the matter ‘to the Dhurma Subha of Calcutta, the great sanhedrin of orthodox Hindoos, who, after consulting the sacred texts and the learned pundits, delivered it as their opinion that the devotee might ride in a railway carriage to the various shrines without diminishing the merit of the pilgrimage.’ The result was an amazing growth in pilgrimages, to the mutual advantage of the ‘Hindoos’ and the railway companies. (Quarterly Review, 1868).
“Railways could also be used for secular worship. As late as 1968 the pious Chinese built a railway sixty miles from Hangsha, the capital of Hunan province, to Shao-sha, the birthplace of Mao-Tse-Tung. Over the next decade, before the cult of Mao’s personality waned, three million passengers took the leisurely four-hour journey every year.
“Railways were obviously most suitable for mass religious movements and so concentrated attention on a small number of famous shrines, leading to the neglect of older sites. The most obvious beneficiary was Lourdes, which can truthfully be described as ‘The Shrine the Railway Made’. [cf. 19]
“Bernadette Soubirous’ visions had started in the late 1850s, before the route of the line from Bayonne to Toulouse had been decided. So the town council seized with both hands the opportunity to ensure that the line passed by Lourdes.
In October 1862, the council agreed to compensate any land-owners who suffered, even from the railways’ surveys. In May 1863, councillors asked the railway to site its station as close as possible to the centre of town and complied with every one of the company’s requests. They admitted the navvies and railway workers to the local hospital and ignored their riotous behaviour.
“Their reward came in 1866 with the simultaneous opening of the grotto and the railway from Tarbes, which connected with trains to Bordeaux and far-off Paris. Between 1870 and 1878 a total of 958 pilgrimages to Bernadette’s shrine brought 661,000 pilgrims to Lourdes, 100,000 of them on a single day, 3rd July 1876, to rejoice in the newly-proclaimed doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and affirm the idea of la France Catholique.
“At much the same time similar ideas were being spread throughout France by another railway-based religious order, the Assumptionists, who exploited the railways to assemble mass rallies, largely of the most humble of folk. The Assumptionists were a strange, and in their time highly important, sect, founded by the scion of a rich land-owning family, who acquired considerable political influence through their ability to mount mass rallies.
“But the railway’s most dramatic influence was not on Christianity, but on Islam. Throughout the 19th century increasing numbers of pilgrims had made the difficult and dangerous journey to Mecca. In September 1900, Sultan Abdul Hamid proposed to build a railway to Mecca as a pious gesture on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his accession to the Ottoman throne. The idea was immediately greeted as an important affirmation of Muslim values.
“The Sultan naturally insisted on building a purely Muslim railway. He decreed that, ‘only Muslim workers and Muslim materials ought to be employed; timber from the vast forests of Anatolia and Macedonia; ballast from the country being crossed, rails and wagons from the Imperial workshops; engineering regiments would provide the workforce, the schools of Constantinople the engineers and the foremen.’ [4]
“In the event, much of the material had to be bought in Europe, together with some skilled labour, supervised by the German engineer who had built most of the railways in the Levant. The combination of ferocious piety, the Sultan’s will-power and German organising ability ensured that this railway, nearly a thousand miles in length, was built within eight years.
“Meissner Pasha, the German chief engineer, was simply given the two terminals, Damascus and Mecca, and told to connect them by rail as best he could. He was a genius. He had to handle a huge construction force composed of a dozen nationalities. The line was built across some of the bleakest, hottest, most implacable terrain in the world, without natural resources of any kind. His worst problem was with the Bedouin, furious at being deprived of the pilgrims who had been their prey, ruffians eventually hunted down by an implacably efficient Turkish general, Kaisim Pasha.
“Meissner was not allowed to complete his work. Neither he, nor any other infidel, was allowed to venture beyond Medina Saleh, the 587th mile-post on the line. Fortunately he had trained up a highly-accomplished Turkish engineer, Muktar Bey, who brought the line into Medina in August, 1908. But then the Bedouin took their revenge, wiping out a whole construction camp, and thus scotching any idea of building the railway the final 300 miles to Mecca itself. Unfortunately the line ran for a mere eight years, until T. E. Lawrence blew it up. Since then it has lain abandoned, the break-up of the Ottoman Empire signalling the end of any hope of cooperation between the peoples along the lines.
“In Anglo-Saxon countries deep religious faith produced, not railways, but strong hostility to the very idea of running them on the Sabbath, as a serious challenge to the fundamental Sabbatarianism which was as much a feature of the age as the railways themselves.
“The famous Versailles accident of 1842 was naturally exploited by the Sabbatarians as an awful lesson meted out to the Godless foreign travellers who had dared desecrate the day. After an equally appalling accident in Clayton tunnel just outside Brighton twenty years later ‘plenty of people rushed about proclaiming the accidents as a judgment of God.’ In between times the railways’ Sunday excursions were denounced as ‘trips to Hell at 7s 6d.’ [5]
“But it was not the excursionists (who included such devout souls as Thomas Cook) who forced the railway companies to break the Sabbath. According to Michael Robbins in The Railway Age, it was the absolute need for mail trains to run on a Sunday which broke the resistance of the Sabbatarians in both Scotland and Wales. They were never as powerful as was made out, and most clerics probably reacted like Dr Grantley in Trollope’s Barchester Towers: ‘If you can withdraw all the passengers the company I dare say will withdraw the trains. It is merely a question of dividends’.
“Nevertheless the argument rumbled on. In 1883 the inhabitants of a small Highland village managed to prevent a load of fish from leaving on the Sabbath and were greeted as heroes when they returned from serving the jail sentence to which they were sent-enced. Six years later ‘the anti-Sunday Travel Union’ had 58 branches with some 8,000 adherents. Partly owing to its activities, trains on suburban lines normally ceased running on Sundays during the hours of Divine service.
“Similar battles were fought in the United States. In Galesburg, the railroad was the blunt instrument which broke the power of the Sabbatarians. The first Sunday train was boarded by the impressive figure of President Blanchard of Knox College, who was told to go to Hell when he ordered the engineer to take the engine back to the roundhouse. And that, wrote Ernest Elmo Calkins, was the end of the powerof ‘the little group of pious men who had founded Galesburg to be a Christian town after their own ideal’. [6]
In South Africa, the Reverend Van Lingen managed to prevent any Sunday trains from desecrating the Sabbath at the settlement of Paarl. After denouncing the railway from the pulpit, he founded a Sunday stage coach service for passengers from Cape Town which successfully kept the railway at bay for half a century.
“There was, and remains, a strong counter-current, a positive railway-worship among clergymen of the Church of England. Bishop Eric Treacy and Canon Roger Lloyd were famous railway writers; Canon Reginald Fellows wrote a history of Bradshaw, founding father of railway timetables (which Archbishop William Temple was reputed to know by heart); and more recently the Reverend Wilbert Awdry made a fortune by recounting the adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends.” [1: p266-270]
In 1979 LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 number 45428 was named Eric Treacy. It is now preserved on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. The Treacy Collection of 12,000 photographs forms part of the National Railway Museum’s archive of over 1.4 million images. [25]
In the 19th century, the rapid expansion of railways in the UK was met with both profound spiritual revival and fierce religious resistance. While some religious leaders initially condemned trains as ‘rank infidelity’ and decried Sunday travel, railways ultimately revolutionized religious life, opening up previously remote pilgrimage sites like Glastonbury to the masses.
The massive influx of migrant workers, known as ‘navvies’, who built the complex rail lines had squalid living conditions. In response, religious groups established dedicated missions. In the Western Dales, the construction of the Settle-Carlisle line and West Coast Mainline left behind a trail of small chapels, churches, and meeting houses dedicated to these workers. [11][12]
The Railway Mission, founded in 1881, continues to provide support and solace to everyone associated with the railways. [21]
The Railway Mission was founded in 1881. It was a Christian philanthropic organization designed to combat the ‘sinful behaviour’ of railway workers. It provided spiritual guidance, reading rooms, and temperance advocacy to railway employees. [13][14]
Spiritual Metaphors: The advent of steam engines gave birth to rich new religious vocabulary. Preachers and poets of the era often invoked railways as metaphors for salvation. In popular broadsides like ‘The Spiritual Railway’, repentance was the ‘station’, the Word of God was the ‘first engineer’, and Faith was the passenger train! [15]
Nikolaus Pevsner transcribed the following lines from a memorial in the cloister of Ely Cathedral to two victims of an accident on the Norwich to Ely railway line in 1845. Pevsner finds it “eminently characteristic of the earnestness with which this new triumph of human ingenuity was still regarded.” [9]
“The line to Heaven by Christ was made, With heavenly truth the Rails are laid, From Earth to Heaven the Line extends, To Life Eternal where it ends. Repentance is the Station then, Where Passengers are taken in ; No Fee for them is there to pay, For Jesus is himself the way. God’s Word is the first Engineer, It points the way to Heaven so clear, Through tunnels dark and dreary here. It does the way to Glory steer. God’s Love the fire, his Truth the Steam, Which drives the Engine and the Train; All you who would to Glory ride, Must come to Christ, in him abide. In First, and Second, and Third Class, Repentance, Faith, and Holiness, You must the way to Glory gain, Or you with Christ will not remain. Come then poor Sinners, now’s the time, At any Station on the Line, If you’ll repent, and turn from sin, The Train will stop and take you in.” [10]
Dedicated Chapels in entirely new settlements, such as Tebay in Cumbria, sprang up around major railway junctions. The influx of workers forced the Church of England and Nonconformists to erect new places of worship (like the 1885 Methodist chapel in Tebay) specifically to serve the growing railway community. [16]
Tebay Methodist Chapel built in 1885 to serve the railway community. [Google Streetview, September 2024]
Michael Ainsworth wrote an article in 2015 which reflected on Railways, Clergy, Religion and the Law. [17] In it he said:
“The coming of the railways in the 19th century excited deep passions among churchmen, as many novels of the time illustrate. The manner in which building was legally driven through, line-by-line, has been exhaustively documented. For some the speed, the smoke, the ‘blot on the landscape’, were unnatural and diabolical – particularly when Sunday trains broke the sabbath commandment. The vast church of St Bartholomew Brighton was built on a commanding site, and allegedly on the dimensions of Noah’s Ark, as a witness to those travelling down for ‘dirty weekends’. However, one of the most ‘proper’ films ever, Brief Encounter, takes place in a railway station … at Carnforth,” [17]
“Clergy joined with landowners in resisting encroachment. (They had limited success – note, for example, how the line curves round Sacred Trinity Church in Salford.) The perils of rail travel were brought home early by the first railway fatality, in 1830, of William Huskisson MP at the opening of the Liverpool to Manchester line: a memorial at the site, still clearly visible on the line over Chat Moss, was erected in 1913. The dangers were confirmed by the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879 which evoked what has been widely hailed as the worst poem in the English language (but curiously enjoyable) by William McGonagall.” [17]
“But others hailed railways as a godsend and a sign of divinely-blessed progress (despite blighting the urban landscape) … By the latter part of the century, they had certainly revolutionised episcopal ministry. The late 19th-century renewal of enthusiasm for confirmation would not have been possible without the railways. For example, of James Fraser, Bishop of Manchester 1870-85, it was written he spent the week travelling through his diocese, so that there were few days in which he was not somewhere on the railways.” [17]
James Fraser, Bishop of Manchester, 1870-1885, consecrated 99 new parish churches across Manchester Diocese.. He was a frequent railway passenger. [24]
Michael Ainsworth moved on to reflect on clergy interest in railways (model, real or fictional). He said:
“Among clergy who have been ‘keen on railways’, perhaps Eric Treacy, Bishop of Wakefield from 1968-76, significantly described in his Google entry as railway photographer and Anglican bishop, in that order, was pre-eminent. He died in 1978 on Appleby station awaiting a rail-tour arrival. One of the few lapses in Alan Bennett’s chronicling of northern life is in his … Bed Among the Lentils where ‘Mrs Vicar’, the alcoholic wife of a Leeds incumbent (in the diocese of Ripon, as it then was) entertains the bishop who leaves on the pretext of having to bless a steam engine in Keighley (then in another diocese: Bradford, as it then was). However both – plus Treacy’s diocese of Wakefield – are now within the diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, aka Leeds (whichever it has decided to call itself), so no harm is done. Appleby remains in Carlisle diocese.
“It has often been said that the reason why some clergy – probably male rather than female – and others, including church musicians, are keen on railways is because they are reassuringly ‘closed systems’, and Awdry’s setting of his railways on the Isle of Sodor confirms this. Lines and boundaries are set, detailed timetables can be pored over, structures are clear: a joy for those who run model railways in their attics for their own pleasure, or larger versions in their gardens to raise funds – both, according to various reports, threatened from time to time by health and safety regulations.
“This joy is less pronounced now that the real railways have been franchised and fragmented. Responsibility for trains, track, signalling, stations and all else is dispersed among many bodies – providing more benefit to lawyers than to passengers, or ‘customers’. Connections, where they exist at all, cannot be held because they will incur a fine for stopping too long in the station. Problems are always someone else’s fault.” [17]
In their book, ‘The Railway Station: A Social History‘, Jeffrey Richards & John M. McKenzie also make connections between Religion, the Clergy and the Railway (particularly the Railway Station):
“Many … have come to the conclusion that the role and atmosphere of the station large and small is essentially ecclesiastical. G. K. Chesterton, a self-confessed station saunterer, celebrated the station as a temple of tradition, a comforting source of continuity in a world increasingly dedicated to change:
“The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to miss the train before. Do this, and you will find in a railway station much of the quietude and consolation of a cathedral. It has many of the characteristics of a great ecclesiastical building; it has vast arches, void spaces, coloured lights, and above all, it has recurrence of ritual. It is dedicated to the celebration of water and fire, the two prime elements of all human ceremonial. Lastly, a station resembles the old religions rather than the new religions in this point, that people go to it. In connection with this it should also be remembered that all popular places, all sites actually used by the people, tend to retain the best routine of antiquity very much more than any localities or machines used by any privileged class. Things are not altered so quickly or coarsely by common people as they are by fashionable people. … If you wish to find the past preserved, follow the million feet of the crowd. At the worst the uneducated only wear down old things by sheer walking. But the educated kick them down out of sheer culture. I feel this profoundly as I wander about the empty railway station, where I have no business of any kind. I have extracted a vast number of chocolates from automatic machines; I have obtained cigarettes, toffee, scent, and other things that I dislike by the same machinery; I have weighed myself with sublime results; and this sense not only of the healthiness of popular things, but of their essential antiquity and permanence is still in possession of my mind.” [26: p11-12][27: p219-224]
Richards & Mackenzie note that a similar sense of ecclesiastical peace was detected by Karel Čapek in Czech country stations:
“There are little stations threaded on the lines like beads on a rosary; they stand in the solitude like places of pilgrimage, far from the profane noises of the world; they are the real chapels dedicated to the silent ceremony of Waiting. They are led to as a rule by a country lane with a straggling row of trees; the longer it is the more profound and lasting is the silence which embraces the pilgrim who comes to the station to wait. … We who are waiting, shuffle from one foot to the other and cough under our breath like worshippers in a chapel; we are dressed in clean clothes and depressed in a Sunday sort of way. … ‘Mummy!’ says the piping voice of a little girl. ‘Be quiet’, her mother reproves her in a whisper. ‘Mummy, when will the train come?’ Be quiet, little girl, we have to wait for the train to come. If you aren’t as good as if you were in church, the train won’t come, and we shan’t go away in it to the ends of the earth.” [28: p99-101]
Ricahrds & Mackenzie comment that it is appropriate that Canon Roger Lloyd spoke of the quietude of Marylebone Station:
“It is essentially peaceful and when some rather fussy penitent told his father confessor that he could find nowhere in London where he could meditate in quiet and peace, he was astonished to hear the caustic answer: ‘Have you tried Marylebone, my son?'” [29: p99]
Richards & Mackenzie argue that it is possible to extend the metaphor ad infinitum:
“For if the station is seen as cathedral or chapel, it can also be seen to possess in its heyday a Bible every bit as imposing and sometimes even as impenetrable as the Authorized Version (Bradshaw), incense (steam), and liturgical chanting (‘The train now standing at platform 3 is …’, ‘Close the doors and stand clear’, ‘All change’). In some countries nature imitates art and makes this fancy reality. In Tsarist Russia, icons were often placed in railway-station waiting-rooms and in Greece there were shrines at stations where the traveller could light candles to protect him on his journey. The ceiling of the Great Hall at the old Euston Station was deliberately modelled on that of the church of St. Peter extra muros in Rome.” [26: p12-13]
So, they go on to note that:
“Somehow sensing this connection, clerics have been drawn as if by a magnet to the rails. Bishop Eric Treacy of Wakefield, who had an engine named after him, was a tireless photographer of and writer about railways. Similarly prolific and passionate in their dedication were Canon Roger Lloyd, author of, among other works, The Fascination of Railways, Canon Reginald Fellows, researcher into the history of Bradshaw, Canon Victor Whitechurch, creator of the fictional railway detective Thorpe Hazell, and Revd Wilbert Awdrey, author of the much-loved children’s books about Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. Archbishop William Temple when headmaster of Repton had a complete mental recall of Bradshaw and would set as an imposition for an errant boy the best way of travelling from Great Yarmouth to Exeter or Penrith to Ipswich without touching London, complete with changes and times. He would then correct it from memory. It was therefore entirely fitting that, in the celebrated Ealing comedy about the last age of steam, The Titfield Thunderbolt should be driven by the local vicar and fired by a visiting bishop.” [26: p13]
Richards & Mackenzie also talk of trainspotters taking up their hallowed places at the end of station platforms and holding well-thumbed copies of the Ian Allan Guide: “the Bible of their cult.” [26: p13]
They reflect too on the use of railways on pilgrimages, particularly in India:
“The religious metaphor is never very far from the pen of the writer on railways and stations. But railways have also had a powerful literal effect upon religious movements around the world. Stations everywhere took on the role of the Tabard Inn at Southwark, where Chaucer’s pilgrims assembled for their journey to Canterbury. Muslims flocked to the stations of Russian Central Asia, up-country India, Malaya, and North Africa to commence their long journeys to Mecca. The leaders of Eastern religions which had resisted the appearance of the railway, as in China and Japan, soon found that their co-religionists swiftly took to the rails to visit temples and shrines. The stations of the South African Boer Republics, themselves huge concessions to the modern world which the Boers would originally much rather have done without, took on some of the dour, flinty character of Dutch Reformed Calvinism.
“But it was in India that the railways produced their most dramatic religious effect. Hinduism is one of the most mobile of all religions and Hindus found in the railways a hitherto unimaginable opportunity to travel to shrines, pilgrim centres, and important ceremonies. The Murray’s Handbooks to India are punctuated with references to stations much used by pilgrims. In 1906, the Chief Superintendent of the East India Railway provided readers of the Railway Magazine with a graphic description of a pilgrimage to Allahabad. [26: p172-174][32: p326-328] Every twelve years, a ceremony known as the Kumbh mela took place at the confluence of the Jumna (Yamuna) and Ganges rivers just outside Allahabad. The ceremonies lasted for a month and millions attended, many coming only for a few days.
For the duration of the mela as many as twenty pilgrim trains a day, each carrying a thousand passengers, might be brought into Allahabad in addition to the normal traffic. It was necessary to use all the Allahabad stations, Naini, Kotaparcha, Kyogunge, Allengunge, as well as the Main and Fort stations to distribute the tremendous pressure of passengers. Temporary booking-offices, thatched and constructed of railway sleepers, were built near the site of the mela itself to sell tickets to returning pilgrims. At the station barriers, barricades and pens had to be constructed to separate ‘up’ from ‘down’ passengers and avoid crushing and injury. Most of the special pilgrim ‘rakes’ were made of goods wagons with a mat on the floor to sit on, and an oil lamp hung from the roof for illumination. Superintendent Huddleston assured his readers that pilgrims found this accommodation perfectly comfortable and never made any complaints. Pilgrims, he went on, were the most patient of passengers. But even they had been known to take direct action when driven to desperation. Some years earlier a train carrying pilgrims had been so seriously held up that its journey had taken twenty-four hours rather than seven or eight. Towards the end of the journey the pilgrims discovered that their train had been shunted into a siding at a station in order to give precedence to the mail train:
“They thought it time to take action on their own account. Several of them thereupon left their carriages and placed their heads on the rails vowing that, rather than allow another train to pass by they would sacrifice their lives. After this demonstration it is needless to say which train got away first, but, of course, there was an outcry because the Mail ran late!” [32: p328]
Sometimes the lack of co-ordination among the different Indian railway companies made things difficult for pilgrims. There were, for example, no through trains from the East India Railway to the Oudh and Rohilkan railway, and pilgrims together with other travellers had all to change trains at Moghalsarai junction, a mere ten miles from the great pilgrim city of Benares (now Varanasi). Huddleston described the scene:
“During pilgrim rushes, surging, struggling crowds filled the platforms and the waiting halls, and while the masses changed from one train to another the station was a Babel. The delays between connecting trains often being considerable, it is needless to remark that the position was one of intolerable discomfort, though it was accepted by both passengers and railway staff as part of the day’s work.” [32: p501-502]
Through trains were eventually provided, and ‘the convenience to pilgrims and relief to Moghalsarai station is immense’.
The complexities of the arrangements made for pilgrimages is borne out in a number of ways. The Government Health Department sent men to examine pilgrims alighting from trains. Their job was to watch out for cases of smallpox and cholera. The railway also had its own medical department, which attempted to take action when cases of plague, small-pox, or cholera were reported:
“During the mela a slight outbreak of cholera occurred at a small station called Manickpore on the Jubbulpore line. The company’s doctor was on the spot in no time, attended the patients, examined the sanitary arrangements, disinfected and closed the station well, and arranged for tanks of pure water to be conveyed from 62 miles away.” [32: p425-426]
The traffic arrangements for the Kumbh Mela in 1906 were entrusted to the same officer who had made all the arrangements for the Great Delhi Durbar organized by the Viceroy Curzon in 1904. He was provided with 450 employees to help. The earnings from the pilgrims, who travelled at very low fares, amounted to £53,500 in 27 days. Superintendent Huddleston noted with evident self-satisfaction that ‘everything worked without a hitch, and there was not a single accident of any kind’. [26: p172-174]
‘The Railway Age’, according to Richards & Mackenzie had many faults. But:
“But it was an age which saw the slow, sure, and steady progress of social improvement and it was an age of hope, of optimistic belief in the future, unashamed aspiration for better days and better conditions in the world. The great stations stand, if they do still stand, as towering monuments to that belief, public meeting-places where faith in the perfectibility of man by his own ingenuity and the blessing of a divine providence was daily affirmed. In this respect, the oft-quoted cathedral metaphor is not inapt. Stations were cathedrals of the new technology. They were also places of hope, faith, and inextinguishable humanity, embodiments of that spirit that Charles MacKay captured so well in his poem ‘Railways 1846’. [26: p17]
John MacKay’s poem reads:
‘Railways 1846’ by John MacKay. [30: p69]
For a more about Clergy and Railways, please click here. [7]
It is also worth listening to Railway Mania Podcast Episode 19 to gain an understanding of the way in which Christian non-conformists in the UK were so instrumental in the development of the railways in the UK. [8]
Railway Chaplains
As we have already noted, The Railway Mission is a British mission devoted to the rail industry. It was founded in 1881 based in mission halls, and now operates a chaplaincy service across the rail network in the UK.
In the early days of the Railway Mission there were a number of mission halls at railway stations throughout the country. These days Railway Chaplains cover hundreds of miles by train. Lorraine Worsley-Carter points to one of these chaplains – Revd. Mike Roberts: “Mike works under the auspices of the Railway Mission. He covers a vast area in the North West from Stafford to Carlisle, Blackpool to the Pennines. This includes 11 Passenger and Freight Operators; Network Rail; 11 depots; over a hundred stations and 50 signal boxes. He is also a chaplain to the British Transport Police.” [20]
The Railway Mission is committed to making a real difference to the lives of people in the “railway family.” [21] The Railway Mission says this about its work on the railways:
“Every day, rail colleagues keep passengers and freight moving safely. When something difficult happens a fatality, a serious incident, an assault, a sudden death in the team – it is people who carry it home. … Railway Mission chaplains are present across the network. We offer calm, confidential pastoral support in the moment, and we stay alongside staff and managers as they take the next steps. Sometimes that is a quiet conversation at a depot or station. Sometimes it helps a manager hold a team together after devastating news. … In 2025, our chaplains recorded 9,157 support interactions across the industry. 23.5% were requested by a manager or director, a sign that chaplaincy is valued not only for individual care, but also for coordinated, time-critical support after incidents. …
“Independent social value work using RSSB’s Rail Social Value Tool has estimated that for every £1 invested in Railway Mission chaplaincy, around £3.13 of social value is generated. That is why partner support matters. It keeps chaplains present where and when staff need them most.” [22]
Lorraine Worsley-Carter says: “The introduction of railway chaplains in the United Kingdom has been a significant development in the provision of spiritual and emotional support to both railway employees and passengers. These dedicated individuals serve a crucial role in an industry that operates around the clock, often under stressful and challenging conditions. … One of the primary attributes of railway chaplains is their ability to provide emotional support to railway employees. Working in the railway industry can be physically and mentally demanding, with long hours and often unpredictable schedules. Railway chaplains offer a listening ear and a supportive presence, helping employees cope with the stresses and challenges of their jobs. They provide a safe space for employees to discuss their concerns, anxieties, and personal issues, which can have a positive impact on mental health and job satisfaction.” [20]
What About Patron Saints?
Some are highlighted by John Bull (inspired by writer Anne Thériault). [18] Here they are!
Saint Christopher – Patron Saint of Travellers – St Christopher’s sainthood is based on his, allegedly, having carried the baby Jesus across a river. As such he is the generic Patron Saint for travellers. He is also Saint Patron of Truck Drivers!
Saint Montague – Patron Saint of Railways – Montague was the abbot of a monastery, but died when he was hit by a locomotive. This is likely another of the Catholic Church’s canonisations to keep up with new transport technologies.
Saint Galthus – Patron Saint of Steam Engines – Saint Galthus is the patron of steam engines. Having run the Pope’s private rail line, he was martyred by a faulty boiler. His body was found to be incorruptible after death and he was duly canonized. Although, it is said his Pope just really loved trains.
4. Saint Catherine of Alexandria – Patron Saint of Railway Workers – Catherine was a 4th century martyr, was well educated, and is also the patron saint of philosophers and preachers. It is not clear why she was anointed Patron Saint of Railway Workers, although the social media posts of some railway workers do point to a degree of philosophising and preaching! [18]
Painting by Caravaggio (1598–99) in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. [31]
According to John Bull there are other patron saints who can be considered as being closely allied to railways. [18] Here are a few:
St Dominic de la Calzada– Patron Saint of Civil Engineers – worked on building bridges and paved causeways to help pilgrims in Spain – calzada means causeway in Spanish. [18]
St Bénézet – Patron Saint of Bridge Builders – Bénézet saw a vision during the eclipse of 1177 that propelled him to build a bridge over the River Rhône at Avignon. He built the bridge single-handedly, as church and civil authorities refused to help him, thus becoming an early advocate for community based transport planning. [18]
Saint Barbara – Patron Saint of Tunnellers (and Mining Engineers) – Saint Barbara, has often been invoked to protect diggers and mine engineers in such dangerous work, and so is also the patron saint of miners. And by extension the patron saint of railway tunnels and tunnellers. To this day, tunnels under construction often have a small alcove in which a small statue of her is placed, for her divine protection. The medieval miners also named digging equipment after women in her honour, and this tradition is still followed to the present – tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are still given female names! [18]
In addition to religious saints, John Bull also provides some suggestions for ‘Secular Saints’, including these. [18]
Thomas Rammell – Patron Saint of Pneumatic Railways – Engineer Thomas Rammell had a single-minded obsession with pneumatic railways, beginning with his London Pneumatic Despatch Railway … Although this seems more like a case for Saint Jude, the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes.
Antonio Gaudí – Patron Saint of Trams – Architect Antonio Gaudí was struck & killed by a tram right next to his under-construction La Sagrada Familia Basílica. Unfortunately he looked quite dishevelled, so passersby thought he was a vaigrant and he didn’t get the medical help that could have saved his life.
Saint Harriet – Patron Saint of the Underground Railroad – some Anglicans consider Harriet Tubman a saint, as she was the conductor of the Underground Railroad in the US. Whilst not a physical railroad, but more a concept, Harriet deserves inclusion.
And finally … Having Faith in the Rail Industry (A Muslim Perspective)
CPMS-Egis Scheme Project Manager Farah Sajwani on the challenges to make the railways inclusive to all religions. As a Middle Eastern Muslim Farah Sajwani never thought she’d be working in the railway for a company in England. Farah’s journey into the industry began when she left Oman to pursue an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering in Australia. She then moved to Manchester, where she completed her postgraduate degree in engineering project management. It was from here that she moved to London and joined the graduate scheme at CPMS-Egis where she has been for nearly three years. [June 2021]
This is an article from RailDirector magazine: [23: p46-47]
“Landing a job in a railway-focused company was very exciting, yet overwhelming, as I came from a country that did not have a railway,” said Farah. “I was a little apprehensive at first as I was concerned about being credible and having a successful career there, not knowing much about rail, but everyone has been very welcoming and helpful and I’m really enjoying it. Another pleasant surprise was getting a graduate placement in a company that is understanding and inclusive of other cultures and religions. I’d often heard friends saying that the working environment can be tough and that people from a different ethnicity, religion, education and national origin can sometimes feel left out in the workplace, but I have been fortunate at CPMS-Egis. I have felt included from the outset of my placement and am now Scheme Project Manager. I am also actively involved in the company’s EDI and Community Kindness Groups.”
In February [2021], Farah was invited by Women in Rail (WR) to join the Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Charter Working Group created by Women in Rail (WR) and the Railway Industry Association (RIA) following its launch last November. “I’ve joined the Charter Working Group because I want to make a difference and help organisations understand better how to attract a more diverse workforce and be more inclusive,” she said. “I think every person, regardless of their ethnicity, religious beliefs and background should be able to contribute equally to the growth and wellbeing of the organisation they work for, thrive in their job and realise their full potential.”
The EDI Charter has already been signed by more than 160 organisations which demonstrate the industry’s commitment to the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda. The EDI Charter Working Group comprises young professionals in rail chosen by WR and RIA on the basis of their personal commitment and qualities and the fact that they represent a spectrum of the backgrounds, ages, genders and identities and various grades, roles and companies within the UK rail industry at this particular point in time.
“Being part of the working group is the opportunity to share my experiences and to help organisations understand better what may be holding them back from attracting a diverse workforce and being more inclusive,” she said. “It is also a way for me to be the voice of the people who share my background who may be facing challenges in the workplace but are not able or prepared to speak out. Each member of the group brings a different perspective on EDI and the challenges to inclusion so the group is not only about sharing my experiences, explaining how companies can be more inclusive of Muslim women, but also about learning about others, listening to their experiences, their challenges, and understanding how I can myself help foster better inclusion in the workplace and the railway.”
Farah is using her voice to inform the industry about what can be done to encourage more Muslims into the rail sector. Like nearly all industries in the UK, Muslims face universal barriers to employment, with prejudice believed to be a contributor as to why unemployment rates are more than double that of any other community. … “I am keen to use my voice to raise awareness to the need to create more flexibility around the working environment in the railways for people like me,” she said. “For instance, as a Muslim, I don’t celebrate Christmas and I don’t do anything special on Boxing Day, yet as an employee, it is automatically assumed that I will take those days off because it is a bank holiday. It would be good to be able to work those days and use that credit to take time off on the days I celebrate my religion such as Eid-al Fitr (Festival of Breaking the Fast) which follows Ramadan (a month of fasting).”
“Again, with Ramadan it would be good if organisations could make people more aware that they have colleagues fasting and ask them to be a little bit more understanding. I have found my colleagues at CPMS-Egis to be really supportive, but I am aware that it is not always the case for other Muslim people. … In the long term, it would be good to see employers make prayer space available for everyone. I pray five times a day so it would be nice to have a personal space to do this, but this space could also be used as a meditation room for individuals or just somewhere where anyone who needs to take a moment can decompress, … I am pregnant at the moment and flexibility is important to me, to go to hospital appointments for instance. As long as I am doing my job right and making up the working hours, that should be the main focus.”
It is these sorts of ideas that Farah hopes to promote and move forward as part of her role in the working group of the EDI Charter. “When I first joined the rail industry, I did feel a little awkward when I was taking time off to celebrate my faith and during Ramadan when I was fasting,” she said.“Organisations could look at offering more flexible hours for employees during these times, because for example I don’t take a lunch break when fasting. … A lot of it comes down to raising awareness, which is a priority for me with the EDI Charter Working Group. Inclusion is not a case of one size fits all and what works for one organisation. might not work for another. Employers need to connect with their employees, open the discussion and both need to work together to make it work for them.”
“Our role as the EDI Charter Working Group is about understanding our respective challenges and come up with ideas and suggestions as to how employers can address them so they can attract a more diverse workforce and create better inclusion. … I have really enjoyed my time in the rail industry so far and I really want to play my part in making sure I help everyone feel included, whilst at the same time encouraging others to join the industry. … Based on my overall experiences so far, I would recommend the rail industry to everyone and I would encourage everyone to speak up if they face challenges. … There are lots of opportunities to work in the railways. You just need to understand the industry and make sure the industry understands you.” [23: p46-47]
References
Nicholas Faith; The World the Railways Made; Pimlico, London, 1990, 1994, p259-270.
J. N. Westwood; A History of Russian Railways, George Allen and Unwin, London, 1964.
Michael Ainsworth; Thoughts on railways, clergy, religion and the law; in Law & Religion UK, 17th April 2015; via https://www.lawandreligionuk.com/2016/04/17, accessed on 8th July 2026.
John Eade; The Changing Role of Railways in the Life of a European Pilgrimage Shrine; via Researchgate; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289637979_THE_CHANGING_ROLE_OF_RAILWAYS_IN_THE_LIFE_OF_A_EUROPEAN_PILGRIMAGE_SHRINE, accessed on 9th July 2026. This paper examines the changing role of the railway in the development of one of the most important Roman Catholic shrines – Lourdes in France. During the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, trains were vital in establishing Lourdes’ position as a major national and international shrine. Although the expansion of car ownership and tourism after the Second World War have vastly increased, the numbers visiting the shrine, the importance of the railway has declined. This paper examines the changing role played by the railway in the shrine’s development, the declining importance of organised pilgrimage groups and the growth of individual choice and the flexibility provided by diverse modes of transport. It concludes with a consideration of the relevance of this case study to the study of pilgrimage and tourism in Europe and beyond.
Roger Farnworth 
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