"Rovos Rail" founder Rohan Vos meets Angolan officials at Lobito station. (Photo: Wan Yu)
Angola (People's Daily) -- On the morning of July 30, a luxury tourist train trip organized by South African tour operator Rovos Rail arrived in Lobito station in Angola.
This tourist train departing from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, on July 14, using the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (Tazara) the train travelled into Zambia then crossed the Democratic Republic of Congo, before reaching Luau, on the border of Angola, bound for Lobito, in the province of Benguela, and travelling 4300 kilometers. For the first time in history, a railway connecting the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean has been completed.
Lobito Station of Benguela railway. (Photo: Wan Yu)
The Tazara railway and Benguela railway, through which the route mainly passes, have deep ties to China. The Tazara was built with the support of the Chinese government in the 1970s, which was the largest foreign aid project at that time. Benguela railway is one of the landmark projects of Angola's post-war reconstruction, which was undertaken by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited.
Lobito Station of Benguela railway. (Photo: Wan Yu)
The project adopts the design-procurement-construction general contract mode and opened to traffic in 2015. It is the longest railway completed by Chinese enterprises after the Tazara railway in one time.
Lobito Station of Benguela railway. (Photo: Wan Yu)
The historic link between the two railways was completed on Wednesday. This is the first time that the railways of Tanzania, Zambia, DR Congo and Angola have achieved connectivity. The trans-Africa railway corridor between the Atlantic ocean and the Indian Ocean has been formed.
Staff of CRCC welcome the passengers of Rovos Rail. (Photo: Wan Yu)
The Benguela railway has transported nearly 4.5 million passengers and more than 260,000 tons of freight since its completion. Tourism routes between Dar es salaam and Lobito will be operated regularly in the future.
Western terminal (New Kapiri Mposhi station of the Tazara). (Photo: Wan Yu)
On August 2, tourists from all over the world will take the Rovos Rail from Lobito, along the Benguela railway and the Tazara to Dar es salaam.
(Photo: Wan Yu)