Maputo, June 17, 2025 (Lusa) - State-owned company Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) has announced the shipment of the first of 10 locomotives ordered by Mozambique Ports and Railways (CFM), a deal worth US$37.68 million (€32.5 million).
"RITES is proud to boost global connectivity with the first batch of 10 state-of-the-art locomotives, part of a US$37.68 million order (...) for Mozambique," the company said in a statement.
The locomotive, part of this delivery, left the RITES diesel locomotive factory in Banaras, located in Varanasi, India, on June 9.
The company had announced in November 2023, in information to the Indian stock market, that the contract for the supply of 10 diesel-electric locomotives “had been awarded” to RITES, which had submitted the “lowest bid” among the competitors.
The same note stated that RITES also bid to supply 300 wagons to CFM, with the Mozambican state-owned company reporting that the deal had been awarded to another competitor, without revealing further details.
The Mozambican government is acquiring new wagons to strengthen rail transport in the country, forecasting a 26.6% growth in traffic this year, according to data compiled in May by Lusa from the budget proposal.
According to the draft Economic and Social Plan and State Budget (PESOE) 2025, the forecast growth in traffic is justified “by the increase in passenger flow, linked to investments made in the acquisition of more than 750 wagons”.
This growth is further justified “by the expected increase in freight traffic in 2025, with the full operation of the rehabilitated and expanded railway lines of Ressano Garcia (double track), Matola Gare-Moamba and Machipanda, which will allow connections between the southern and central ports, thus ensuring greater capacity and response to the demand for rail freight transport,” according to the government document.
The Mozambican government announced at the end of April that it intends to invest almost €190 million by 2030 in doubling railway lines and acquiring carriages, locomotives and wagons to boost passenger and freight transport capacity.
“In the southern and central railway system, under the direct management of the company CFM, we plan to invest around 14 billion meticais [€189.1 million] in the period 2025–2030 in the implementation of strategic projects,” said Transport and Logistics Minister João Matlombe on April 26, 2024, when inaugurating three new locomotives in Maputo.
The minister said that the government wants to invest the money in completing the duplication of the remaining 25 kilometres of the Ressano Garcia railway line in Maputo, which links Mozambique and South Africa, and also in the acquisition of more than 30 carriages to increase passenger transport capacity.
For the same amount, the Mozambican government intends to acquire at least 250 wagons by 2030 to meet the growing demand for mineral transport and to purchase at least 15 locomotives.
The Minister of Transport and Logistics said that the three new locomotives inaugurated cost 422.4 million meticais (€5.8 million), with the aim of strengthening passenger rail transport capacity in the Greater Maputo region, recognising its impact on community development.
The operating results of the state-owned CFM rose 55% in 2024 to almost 2.52 billion meticais (€34.7 million), and more than seven million passengers were transported, the management recently announced.
PVJ/AYLS // AYLS
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