The November 1984 issue of ‘Railway Gazette International’ reports that at a meeting in Nairobi in October the chief executives of the Kenya Railways and Tanzania Railways Corporation signed an agreement covering the resumption of rail traffic between them. Both form part of the metre gauge system, which formerly comprised, with Uganda, East African Railways. The Tanzania Railways Corporation general manager, Tom Mmari, announced that repairs of the 32km. section across the frontier between Kahe and Taveta stations had already been completed and through freight traffic was expected to begin almost immediately. A passenger service would be resumed when sufficient coaching stock became available.

On Lake Victoria, the train ferries ‘Victoria’ and ‘Umoja’ would start to ply between Mwanza in Tanzania and Kisumu in Kenya as soon as repairs had been completed. It is ten years since the break-up of the East African Railways system. In due course, the railways may be able to benefit from an exchange of staff for training and other purposes. The Railway Gazette also reports that, following a visit by Transport Minister John Malecela to Bruxelles, the Tanzania Railways Corporation is to receive shs.15 million worth of wagons from Belgian manufacturers. Following the recent completion of a study by Pakistan Railways into the proposed Musoma – Arusha line, the Government is to investigate sources of funding for the scheme.

P.H. White

THE MACHINE AGE
Construction of phase 1 of the Kilimanjaro Machine Tools Manufacturing Company has been completed and production has started. It will manufacture machinery and machinery spares that will be used for both metal and wood working activities in agriculture and industry. – Shihata