Nacala corridor rehabilitation: The railway operating programmes indeed apply to the entire Nacala Corridor, i.e. the lines Nacala – Nkaya – Chipata and Blantyre – Nkaya. To assess the economic viability of the railway development project within the region, cost estimates for the entire corridor were already considered. Accordingly, initial investment costs (2009-2014) for the entire corridor are roughly estimated to add up to US$523.8 m, thereof: US$222.2 m for infrastructure rehabilitation in Malawi, US$5.4 m for network development in Malawi, US$110.0 m for infrastructure rehabilitation in Mozambique, US$15.0 m for loading/unloading equipment at Nacala Port, US$1.6 m for Chipata (Zambia) extension, US$8.7 m for signalling (entire network), and 160.9 m US $ for rolling stock. In the period from 2017 through 2029, additional investments into rolling stock of up to US$49.5m may be required to cope with increasing traffic.
Link with Zambia A new rail link from Chipata to Mchinji (Malawi) was completed in May 2010 and gives Zambia access to the network. On the long term, a rail connexion to the TAZARA and the Zambian network, possibly at the Southern border of Congo with Zambia, might be considered.
Linking with Beira Though the Nacala rail route is the lowest cost route for foreign trade, the broken rail link through the south of Malawi via Nsanje and Marka represents a possible (but expensive) alternative link to Beira. Rehabilitation costs from the Southern Border – Limbe section (Beira Corridor), is up to 305.0 m US $, out of which : . 95.3 m US $ for renewal of 198.9 track kilometres and 40 turnouts, and . 209.7 m US $ for replacement / renewal of 144 steel bridges with a total length of 1,591 metres, 2,323 bridge beams and 90 rail frames. The major part of this link in Mozambique is being rehabilitated by Compania dos Caminhos de Fero da Beira (CCFB) - a joint venture between CFM and two Indian companies (Arcon and RITES) - which has also the concession to operate the line; this rehabilitation is funded by the concession and with a World Bank loan. Rehabilitation of the Malawian part of the Beira link is engaged. Suggestion from the consultant The Nacala rail route is a regional and national necessity, due to the demand of transport coming from the Moatize area and from Chipata. A missing link is clearly identified between the Moatize – Beira rail route and the Malawian infrastructure. This missing link can hardly be addressed between the northern part of the Mozambican network, and the Central part of the Malawi network, due to the presence of important escarpments (1st) and to the important distance between the two networks (2nd). On another hand, linking the network through the Southern border of Malawi, along the Shire River, with a connexion with the Mozambican network at the confluence of the Shire and the Zambezi restarts the Beira rail corridor for Malawi, but do not answer to the coal transport demand (from the Mozambican point of view), and clearly discards the Nsanje inland port project (from Malawi point of view). The huge cost of rehabilitation is also a major problem.
88