Luanda – The first batch of 275 new container wagons, ordered by the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) company to move goods along the Lobito Corridor, will be delivered from the last quarter of this year.
These are means capable of transporting 10, 20 and 40 foot containers, which will be supplied by the South African company Galison Manufacturing, according to a press release to which ANGOP had access Wednesday.
The arrival of these wagons in the country is part of the investment made by the corridor's management company, LAR, announced at the signing of the concession for this railway infrastructure, in November 2022.
According to the note, the acquisition of these means represents an important step in the renewal of the railway line and its operational capacity, to transport goods such as cobalt and copper, from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to other SADC countries, through the Lobito Corridor.
Therefore, according to the document, container ships are being manufactured from high-strength steel, to increase durability and reduce the weight of each one, which will allow the transport of higher loads.
The manufacturing process of the aforementioned wagons also involves the extensive use of modern methods, including computerized beam saws
and robotic welding cells, the note reads.
In this regard, the executive director of LAR, Francisco Franca, quoted in the document, said that the new wagons are compatible with existing rolling stock in the SADC region and were manufactured taking into account local railway conditions, aiming to ensure trouble-free transportation of critical minerals and other materials.
He assured that, recently, a team from Lobito Atlantic Railway visited the Galison Manufacturing facilities, to monitor the start of production of the wagon prototypes that will begin to be delivered later this year.
Lobito Atlantic Railway won the international competition to explore the Lobito Corridor on September 4, 2021. In 2022, the LAR consortium, made up of Trafigura, Mota-Engil and Vecturis, obtained the concession, for 30 years, for the operation, management and maintenance of the aforementioned railway corridor and the mineral terminal at Porto do Lobito.
The contract for the transfer of the concession of railway services and support logistics for the Lobito Corridor was signed on July 4, 2023, in the railway port city of Lobito (Benguela), in the presence of the statesmen of Angola, DR Congo and Zambia , namely João Lourenço, Félix Tshisekedi and Hakainde Hichilema, respectively.
The line, when completely modernized, will provide a more efficient and lower-carbon route to the market for copper, cobalt and other metals crucial to the energy transition, operating in a commercially open manner with the entire market.
The Lobito Corridor rehabilitation project benefits from support from the Governments of Angola, DRC, Zambia and the US Government's Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII). It represents an investment of more than $500 million, with potential financing of at least $250 million from the US International Development Finance Corporation.
This investment will allow the renewal of sections of the railway line and associated infrastructure, in addition to guaranteeing the acquisition of a further 1,500 wagons and 35 locomotives.
CPM/QCB/TED/jmc
