Africa-Press – Mozambique. The vandalism of part of the railway line caused the derailment of a freight train in Sofala province, central Mozambique, in the early hours of Sunday, the state-owned company Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) announced today.
According to a source from CFM, the train that derailed in Dondo district also injured one of the drivers and caused financial losses estimated at around US$7 million.
“It was an act of sabotage. There was a cut in the main railway line, made by unknown individuals,” said the source, adding that the incident affected two locomotives and eight wagons.
CFM assures that work is currently underway to restore the railway to allow train circulation, and it is expected to be completed within 24 hours.
“At this moment, the line is being restored. First, the removal of the derailed rolling stock, which are the locomotives and wagons, and then the restoration of the line will begin, and we estimate around 24 hours, more or less, to restore the line,” the same source assured.
The southern railway network of CFM has also suffered losses of two million dollars this year due to theft and vandalism of infrastructure, the company announced in September.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Forum for the Prevention and Fight Against the Vandalism of Public Infrastructure, Arnaldo Manjate, director of railway operations for CFM-South, said that only this year, equipment had been stolen and railway line devices vandalised, including track switches, which cost the company about five million meticais (around €66,000), including due to stones being thrown at locomotives.
“We are only looking at the material removed, but the amount we end up spending because of train stoppages, and also due to derailments caused by this situation, can reach aboutUS$2 million dollars,” said Arnaldo Manjate.
According to the official, the southern region of CFM has also suffered from thefts of rails and metal sleepers, among other parts, along the railway lines, materials that are later sold to scrapyards, according to information provided by the company.
The Mozambican railway network is divided into three zones—south, centre, and north—which are not directly connected but, in turn, link to several neighbouring countries, such as South Africa, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe.
In 2024, CFM trains transported 6,815,251 passengers in the central and southern systems—almost half a million more than the company had forecast, according to official data—and 3% above the 2023 figure, according to company data.
At the end of April, the Mozambican Government announced that it intends to invest almost 190 million euros by 2030 in doubling railway lines and acquiring carriages, locomotives, and wagons to strengthen passenger and freight transport capacity.
The government stated that it aims to invest the money in completing the duplication of the remaining 25 kilometres of the Ressano Garcia railway line in Maputo, which connects Mozambique and South Africa, and also in acquiring more than 30 carriages, with the goal of increasing passenger transport capacity.
For the same amount, the Government of Mozambique intends, by 2030, to acquire 250 wagons to meet the growing demand for mineral transport and to purchase at least 15 mainline locomotives.
CFM’s operational results rose by 55% in 2024, reaching almost 2.52 billion meticais (€34.7 million), and more than seven million passengers were transported, the management recently announced.
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