Shaped and coloured like the country’s rare gemstone, tanzanite, the sparkling new railway terminal in Dar es Salaam is a symbol of Tanzania’s transport ambitions. The glass panels gleam in the sun, like an outsize version of the prismatic bluish-purple gem that glitters in the light. The trains – powered by electricity, a first for the region – carry passengers from the commercial hub to the capital, Dodoma, in less than four hours, half the time it takes by road.
It marks the starting point of one of the country’s strategic projects – the building of a 2,560km (1,590-mile) Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) envisaged to connect key cities and link up with neighbours Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 460km (285-mile) Dar es Salaam to Dodoma leg has been open since August, when President Samia Suluhu described the railway as “a pathway to our future” that would "enhance our standing in the region". In Dodoma, the station is another grand building, resembling the rocky hills around the city – an effort to blend the country’s natural heritage with modernity.
It is a reluctant capital. In the middle of the country, it was first designated the centre of power 50 years ago, but it took the strong-willed late President John Magufuli to force government bodies to relocate. But as most commercial activity, and even some government work, continues in Dar es Salaam, a fast and efficient transport link between the cities has been seen as vital.
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