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23-545: Its economy is predominantly agricultural, but it has an important logistics sector, as it serves as the junction point of the country's road-rail systems. The city's railway station serves as the junction of the national railway network, between the Sena railway and the Nacala railway . 15°08′00″S 35°02′00″E  /  15.1333°S 35.0333°E  / -15.1333; 35.0333 This Malawi location article

46-459: Is Mozambique Ports and Railways (CFM); on the Malawian stretch, between the cities of Marka and Mchinji , the administration is done by the company Central East African Railways (CEAR). In the short stretch in the territory of Zambia, between the cities of Mwami and Chipata , the railway is controlled by the company Zambia Railways (ZR). Its main maritime logistics facilities are at

69-525: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sena railway Sena railway , also called Shire Highlands railway , Dondo-Malawi railway and North-South Malawi railway , is a railway that connects Dondo , Mozambique , to Chipata , in Zambia . It is c. 1000 km long, in a 1067 mm gauge . On the Mozambican stretch, between Dondo and Vila Nova de Fronteira , the managing company

92-427: The Nacala railway . The subsequent discovery of mining areas in northeastern Zambia caused the railway to be extended from Mchinji (Malawi) to the locality of Chipata (Zambia). The works for this extension were completed in 2019, with Chinese funding. In 2021, the Mozambican government started the rehabilitation of the section connecting Nhamayabué to Marka, with the expectation of having an auxiliary route for

115-575: The Zambezi River . The rest of the railway on the Mozambican side, between Nhamayabué and Vila Nova de Fronteira, was slowly completed until 1930. In 1930, therefore, the railway already connected Beira, Nhamayabué, Vila Nova de Fronteira, Nsanje, Chiromo and Blantyre, mainly transporting cotton from southern Malawi and from the Sena-Nhamayabué region, in addition to the sugar production by the company Sena Sugar Estates. The permission for

138-713: The port of Beira and port of Nacala . Initially the Sena railway had the function of connecting the Protectorate of Nyasaland (currently Malawi ) from north to south, using waterways to reach seaports. In 1901, the Shire Highlands Railway Company was formed in Blantyre by British investors. He soon obtained a concession to build a railway connecting Nsanje , on the Shire River (at

161-535: The port of Beira . The British South Africa Company had a concession from the Portuguese government to build a railway from Dondo, Mozambique on the main railway line from Beira, Mozambique to Rhodesia . In 1912 the Nyasaland government agreed to give financial assistance to British South Africa Company to build the 98-kilometre (61 mi) Central African Railway from Nsanje , the southern terminus of

184-692: The port of Nacala , in Mozambique. In 1984, the Nacala railway link was also lost, when the Nacala railway was destroyed by RENAMO forces. After the signing of the Rome General Peace Accords in 1992, there was an effort to reopen traffic, but devastating floods in 1997 in the valley of the Shire and Ruo rivers destroyed the important Bangula-Chiromo Road-Rail Bridge, connecting the villages of Bangula and Chiromo . The event defined

207-565: The Central African Railways) and Trans-Zambezia Railways opted for the construction of the Dona Ana Bridge ; the final cost of the bridge was £ 1.74 million and, for the rest of the 20th century, did not generate enough traffic to pay the interest rate, let alone repay the loans raised to build it. The extension into Malawian territory towards the north, between Blantyre and Salima , was completed in 1935, reaching

230-612: The Portuguese in 1934 during the Portuguese rule of Mozambique , it was rendered unusable in the 1980s, during the Mozambican Civil War . USAID assisted with the repairs and it was converted to a single-lane bridge for vehicle traffic. Although not located on a primary highway, it provided an alternative route over the Zambezi. The other two options were the bridge at Tete and the former road ferry at Caia which

253-549: The Shire Highlands Railway to the north bank of the Zambezi at Chindio . This line was completed in 1914 and, at first, river steamers went from Chindio to Chinde on the Indian Ocean . From Chinde, the sea-going lighters continued to Beira, Mozambique . It took two to three weeks to move goods from Blantyre to Beira, involved three transhipments and exposed goods to the risk of water damage. In 1922,

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276-485: The Trans-Zambezia Railway Company completed a line from Beira to Murracca on the Zambezi, opposite Chindio, so there was an almost-complete rail link from Blantyre to Beira except for the short river crossing by ferry. This was inconvenient because the capacity of the ferry depended on the river depth. For two months in the dry season, the river was low and wet-season floods often washed parts of

299-542: The construction loans. The final cost for the Zambezi Bridge was £1.74 million and it never generated sufficient traffic to pay the interest charge, much less repay the loans raised to build it. The 3.67-kilometre-long (2 mi 494 yd) Dona Ana Bridge was at that time the longest railway bridge in Africa . The bridge comprises 33 spans of 80 m (260 ft) and 7 spans of 50 m (160 ft). Built by

322-567: The construction of the north-lakes stretch, beyond Blantyre, was later transferred to the company Central African Railways. In order to cross the Zambezi River and continue the railroad operation, a ferry service was chosen, which paralyzed during the river's drought period. To eliminate the movement of the ferry, Nyasaland Railways Limited (resulting from the merger of the Shire Highlands Railway Company with

345-496: The important port of Chipoka , one of the largest on Lake Malawi. In the 1940s, the Portuguese colonial government for Mozambique built a railway branch linking Dona Ana station, in Nhamayabué, to the coal mines of Moatize. The Dona Ana-Moatize branch line became operational in 1949, with a length of 254 km. In the 1970s, with Mozambican independence, the extension of the line was agreed, which would depart from Salima towards

368-413: The maritime city of Beira . The irregular river flow in the region — sometimes with large and destructive floods, sometimes with severe droughts — made safe navigation almost impossible, causing this option to be discarded and the continuation of a railway line to Quelimane to be abandoned. The effective planning of what is currently the Sena railway would only begin in 1912, when a common understanding

391-501: The southernmost point of the protectorate), to Mangochi , at the southern end of Lake Malawi , via Chiromo and Blantyre. The first section of this line, between Nsanje and Chiromo, was opened to traffic on 1 September 1904. The contract for the construction of a branch was awarded to the British South Africa Company , connecting Chindio and Nsanje, the latter becoming an important waterway connection port with

414-407: The state of degradation of the line between Blantyre and Nhamayabué, which has been inoperative since then. The Bangula-Chiromo bridge was rebuilt in 2003, but the section of the line between Blantyre and Nhamayabué was left behind for being more sinuous and slower, in addition to the low draft and high cargo movement of the port of Beira. It fell into disuse as of 2010, with cargoes being redirected to

437-475: The track away. In 1927, the British government commissioned a report on building a Zambezi bridge. The Hammond Report proposed that a Zambezi bridge be built at Mutarara , 40 km (25 mi) upriver of Chindio. The cost of the Zambezi Bridge was estimated at £1.06 million. Eliminating the handling at the ferry and increased traffic were expected to pay the annual interest and create a sinking fund to repay

460-467: The transport of rail cargo from the south of Malawi. At the same time, the Malawian government tendered the recovery of the section between Bangula and Marka, establishing as a priority the recovery between Bangula and Blantyre ( Limbe ) in a second moment. The main railway stations of the Sena railway are: In 1949, the Dona Ana–Moatize branch line , 254 km long, was definitively opened, connecting

483-661: The very rich areas of the Benga-Moatize coal belt. It also has the Inhamitanga–Marromeu branch, which is 88 km long. Dona Ana Bridge The Dona Ana Bridge spans the lower Zambezi River between the towns of Vila de Sena and Mutarara in Mozambique , effectively linking the two halves of the country. It was originally constructed as a railway bridge to link Malawi and the Moatize coal fields to

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506-478: The west, reaching Lilongwe and Mchinji . The works were completed and inaugurated in 1979. The Sena railway was the main bulk transport link to Malawi until 1979, when it was destroyed by RENAMO forces in the Mozambican Civil War. As the Sena railway was interconnected with the Nacala railway , at the station in the Malawian city of Nkaya, since 1970, Malawi had its second rail connection with

529-479: Was signed between Nyasaland and the Portuguese administration in Mozambique, for the construction of a railway line that would connect Beira to the African Great Lakes . Between 1919 and 1922, Trans-Zambezia Railways, company winner of the tender for the construction of the southern section, concluded the connection between Dondo and Vila de Sena, in front of the city of Nhamayabué (or Mutarara ), on

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