Central Line (Tanzania)
The Central Line (German: Mittellandbahn), formerly known as the Tanganyika Railway (German: Tanganjikabahn) is the most important railway line in Tanzania apart from TAZARA. It runs west from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika via Dodoma. A branch leads to Mwanza on Lake Victoria.
The Central Line was the second railway project coming into existence in the colony of then German East Africa after the Usambara Railway. For the Tanganjikabahn-project a company was founded, the Ostafrikanische Eisenbahngesellschaft (OAEG) (East African Railway Company) which started railway construction in 1905 with 21 million marks (ℳ) provided by Adolph von Hansemann's Disconto-Gesellschaft (Discounting Company) bank. The building started at the port and capital of that time, Dar es Salam.
From the start the engineers fought large difficulties, the tropical climate, periodic heavy rain and lack of appropriate building material. On the other hand, they could count on the experiences from the previous building of the Usambara Railway. There 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in), meter-gauge, was chosen. The Central Line is the largest technical inheritance of the German colonial age in Tanzania.
The route followed an old caravan route to Tabora, which gave large logistic advantages. German settlers soon followed with plantations. So the small place of Tabora developed to a large agricultural centre. In 1907 Kilometer 200 was reached in the vicinity of the town of Morogoro. In 1909 the railhead reached Kilosa. Kigoma at Lake Tanganyika at kilometer 1252 was reached in 1914 just prior to First World War. The regular travel time over the total distance amounted to 58 hours. It was planned to develop the line further to Iringa and to reach Lake Malawi, a project which was stopped due to the war.
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