Maputo, Jan. 28, 2026 (Lusa) - Since Tuesday, the state-owned Mozambique Railways has transported more than 1,700 passengers between the southern region of Magude and the capital Maputo, due to the closure of the main road, which has been affected by the floods.
"On the train leaving Magude today, we are talking about 1,050 people leaving there for Maputo. The train leaving Maputo for Magude carried 350 passengers at the start, but by the time it arrived in Magude there were 659," Arnaldo Manjate, director of railway operations for Caminhos de Ferro de Mozambique (CFM) in the south, told Lusa.
In view of the emergency caused by the floods in Mozambique, with the closure of National Road 1 (N1), the state railway company began transporting people and goods between Maputo and Magude on Tuesday, on the northern edge of Maputo province, and scheduled a second train with a capacity of 1,500 passengers to leave Maputo central station for the region of Magude on Thursday, departing at 08:00 (two hours behind Lisbon time) and expected to arrive at 13:00.
For the same destination, the company is also planning another freight train with a capacity of 1,500 wagons, leaving at 10:00 local time on Friday, with the director of railway operations at CFM-Sul stating that 12 lorries carrying various products are already available for transport, with more expected to arrive.
"These trains are really to respond to the emergency situation, to meet needs. This is an alternative, given that the N1 is cut by the floods and aims to reduce their negative impacts," he explained.
CFM resumed passenger transport in the south of the country on Monday, 12 days after the interruption due to the floods.
In a statement, the state-owned company said it had resumed passenger transport on the Goba line, as well as the Matola-Gare, Manhiça and Marracuene routes on the Ressano Garcia and Limpopo lines, respectively, all in southern Mozambique.
Mozambican president Daniel Chapo assured on Tuesday that traffic on National Road 1 (N1), the country's main road, would be restored within a maximum of two weeks.
On the same day, Mozambique estimated the infrastructure destroyed and affected by the floods at US$644 million (€537.6 million), with the government putting forward a reconstruction plan.
The death toll from the floods in Mozambique in recent weeks has risen to 14, with almost 692,000 people affected, according to provisional data from the Mozambican National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD).
According to the INGD database, with data up to 3:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. Lisbon time) on Tuesday, the floods left nearly 155,000 homes flooded, 3,447 partially damaged and 771 completely destroyed.
INGD data also reports 45 injured and four missing as a result of the floods since 7 January, at a time when families are still waiting to be rescued, especially in southern Mozambique.
Since the beginning of the rainy season in October, including the last few weeks of flooding, there have been 137 deaths, 148 injuries and 812,335 people affected, according to INGD data.
There are currently 100 shelters in operation (11 have since been closed), with 94,657 people. This update also reports that, since 7 January, 229 health facilities and 353 schools, four bridges and 1,336 kilometres of road have been affected.
The European Union, the United States, Portugal, Norway and Japan, as well as neighbouring countries in southern Africa, have already announced and sent emergency humanitarian aid.
PME/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
