Sena railway, also called Shire Highlands railway, Dondo-Malawi railway and North-South Malawi railway, is a railway that connects Dondo,

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

, to Chipata, in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. It is 1000 km long, in a 1067 mm gauge.Mozambique Logistics Infrastructure: Mozambique Railway Assessment
Atlassian Confluence. 10 de dezembro de 2018. On the Mozambican stretch, between Dondo and Vila Nova de Fronteira, the managing company 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 ''Mwami'' () is an honorific title common in parts of Central and East Africa. The title means ''chief'' or ''tribal chief'' in several Bantu languages. It was historically used by kings in several African nations, and is still used for traditi ...

and Chipata, the railway is controlled by the company

Zambia Railways Zambia Railways (ZR) is the national railway company of Zambia and one of the two major railway organisations in Zambia. The other system is the binational TAZARA Railway (TAZARA) that interconnects with the ZR at Kapiri Mposhi and provides a li ...

(ZR). Its main maritime logistics facilities are at the port of Beira and port of Nacala.

History

Initially the Sena railway had the function of connecting the Protectorate of Nyasaland (currently

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

) from north to south, using waterways to reach seaports.

Construction

In 1901, the Shire Highlands Railway Company was formed in

Blantyre Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...

by British investors. He soon obtained a concession to build a railway connecting Nsanje, on the

Shire River The Shire is the largest river in Malawi. It is the only outlet of Lake Malawi and flows into the Zambezi River in Mozambique. Its length is . The upper Shire River issues from Lake Malawi and runs approximately before it enters shallow Lake Malo ...

(at the southernmost point of the protectorate), to Mangochi, at the southern end of

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, () is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is ...

, 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 The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

, connecting Chindio and Nsanje, the latter becoming an 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 Quelimane () is a seaport in Mozambique. It is the administrative Capital (political), capital of the Zambezia Province and the province's largest city, and stands from the mouth of the Rio dos Bons Sinais (or "River of the Good Signs"). The riv ...

to be abandoned.One of Africa’s longest bridges, 86-year-old Ponte Dona Ana gets a much-needed facelift
Club of Mozambique. 26 de maio de 2017. 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 The African Great Lakes (; ) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. The series includes Lake Victoria, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world by area; Lake Tangan ...

. 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 Mutarara, or Nhamayabué, is a town in Mozambique. It lies on the north bank of the Zambezi River. Transport Mutarara is served by a station on the Sena railway of Mozambique Ports and Railways. It is the junction for the line to Malawi ...

), on the

Zambezi River The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

. 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 Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

from southern Malawi and from the Sena-Nhamayabué region, in addition to the sugar production by the company Sena Sugar Estates.Gallo, F.B.G.
Andando à procura dessa vida : dinâmicas de deslocamento na província de Tete-Moçambique, do colonialismo tardio à mineradora Vale
Campinas: UNICAMP. 2017. pg. 271-272. The permission for the construction of the north-lakes stretch, beyond Blantyre, was later transferred to the company Central African Railways.Hammond, F. D.; Newcombe, E. O. A.; Carter, E. P
Report on the Nyasaland Railways and Proposed Zambesi Bridge, 1927
London: H.M. Stationery Office. 1929. 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 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 Moatiz ...

; 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 the important port of

Chipoka Chipoka is a town located in the Central Region, Malawi, Central Region Districts of Malawi, district of Salima District, Salima, in Malawi. It is one of the main ports on Lake Malawi and is the closest port to the capital city of Lilongwe. Chipo ...

, 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 the west, reaching

Lilongwe Lilongwe (, ,) is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020, that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in the central region of Malawi, i ...

and Mchinji. The works were completed and inaugurated in 1979.

Effects of civil war

The Sena railway was the main bulk transport link to Malawi until 1979, when it was destroyed by

RENAMO RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents oppos ...

forces in the Mozambican Civil War. As the Sena railway was interconnected with the

Nacala railway Nacala railway, also known as Northern Corridor railway and Nacala Corridor railway, is a railway line that operates in northern Mozambique on a lineGarcia, Ana.; Kato, Karina.Politicas Públicas e Interesses Privadas: uma análise a partir do Co ...

, at the station in the Malawian city of Nkaya, since 1970, Malawi had its second rail connection with the port of Nacala, in Mozambique. In 1984, the Nacala railway link was also lost, when the Nacala railway was destroyed by RENAMO forces.

Reopening and expanding to the north

After the signing of the

Rome General Peace Accords The Rome General Peace Accords, officially the General Peace Accords (), was a peace treaty signed between the government of Mozambique and RENAMO, ending the Mozambican Civil War on October 4, 1992. Negotiations preceding the agreement began i ...

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 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 the

. 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 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.Delays rocks Railway project
The Nation. 19 de junho de 2021.

Main railway stations

The main railway stations of the Sena railway are: * Dondo (junction railway station) * Caia * Sena * Nhamayabué/Dona Ana (junction railway station) * Vila Nova de Fronteira * Marka * Nsanje * Bangula * Luchenza *

/Limbe *

Nkaya Nkaya, also known as Nacaia, is a town in Malawi, located in the Balaka District, district of Balaka and in the Southern Region, Malawi, Southern Region of the country. In 2022 the local Rivi Rivi River which feeds the Shire River diverted by abo ...

(junction railway station) *

* Salima *

* Mchinji * Chipata

Railway branches

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. It also has the Inhamitanga–Marromeu branch, which is 88 km long.

References

{{reflist 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Malawi 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Mozambique 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Zambia Railway lines in Mozambique