American investors in the Lobito Corridor evaluate the operability of the railway line
A North American business group, funder of the Lobito Corridor project, assessed on Wednesday, 28, the operational status of the CFB (Benguela Railway) railway line.
It did so during a train journey of about hour and a half that started at Compão, the main station in the city of Lobito and ended at Calengue station, in the municipality of Caimbambo, on a journey of 118 kilometres.
The delegation returned to the port city using national roads 260, 105 and 100 towards Caimbambo, Catengue, Benguela and Lobito. “We provided an important trip for investors to make direct contact with the state of the line and I think they were satisfied with the financial bet they made” concluded António Cabral, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Benguela Railway, António Cabral for the which the entry into action of the business consortium will be a relevant milestone for the development and optimization of the CFB.
Although visibly satisfied, the ten members of American nationality chose not to make any comments.
The investment made by them, of about 300 million US dollars. will serve for the maintenance of the 1,289 kilometers of railway line between Lobito and Luau, acquisition of a carriage for the transport of goods, training, among others
The consortium will be responsible for transporting large quantities of goods (minerals, fuel, construction material) and the maintenance of infrastructure, while passenger trains and transport of medium volumes of products will be under the supervision of the CFB
The chairman of the CFB Board of Directors recalled the history of the 100-year-old railway line, underlining that it is “an Angolan business reference and that it contributed to the profound transformation of the economic geography, unlocked regions and ensured markets for manufactured products from the industries of the countries in the region”, said the PCA.
It should be noted that the concession contract for the Lobito Corridor will be in force for a period of 30 years but may be extended to 50 years if the consortium chooses to build the Luacano (Moxico) and Jimbe (Zambia) railway branch, a total length of 259 kilometres, “The country will benefit greatly from the concession of the largest railway platform that is the CFB”, detailed the chairman of the Board of Directors of the CFB
With the “Lobito Atlantic Railway” logo, the consortium plans to increase the daily frequency to 50 trains over the period and guarantee 1,600 direct jobs.
Rail traffic between Lobito and Luau runs smoothly within the framework of the existing schedule and with the entry of the consortium, there will be greater dynamics in trafficability, increased efficiency, dynamism and technological modernization of the existing infrastructure, said António Cabral .
“The line was designed for trains to reach a maximum speed of 80 kilometers/hour, which is considered good and safe for locomotive mobility”, concluded António Cabral.
The award for the Lobito Corridor was won by the consortium made up of the companies Trafigura, Vecturis and Mota Engil.
