Sena railway

Initially the Sena railway had the function of connecting the Protectorate of Nyasaland (currently Malawi) from north to south, using waterways to reach seaports. Thus, 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 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 a important waterway connection port with 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.[5]

The effective planning of what is currently the Sena railway would only begin in 1912, when a common understanding 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.[6]

Reopening of part of the section between Blantyre and Salima, in 1959, around the village of Changalume.

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 the Zambezi River. The rest of the railway on the Mozambican side, between Nhamayabué and Nova Fronteira, was slowly completed until 1930. In 1930, therefore, the railway already connected Beira, Nhamayabué, Nova 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.[7] The permission for the construction of the north-lakes stretch, beyond Blantyre, was later transferred to the company Central African Railways.[8]

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 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.[9]

The construction of the stretch in the territory of Malawi, between Blantyre and Salima, was completed in 1935, reaching the important port of Chipoka, one of the largest on Lake Malawi;[10] an extension from Salima to the west to Lilongwe and Mchinji was completed in 1979.[11]

The subsequent discovery of mining areas in northeastern Zambia caused the railway to be extended from Mchinji (Malawi) to the locality of Chipata (Zambia).[12][13][14] The works for this extension were completed in 2019, with Chinese funding.[15]

In 1949, the Dona Ana-Moatize branch line, 254 km long, was definitively opened, connecting the very rich areas of the Benga-Moatize coal belt.[1]

It also has the Inhamitanga-Marromeu branch, which is 88 km long.[1]