Extension work to increase capacity of the Sena railway line in Mozambique from 6.5 million tons to 20 million tons per year should be completed in the first half of 2016.

The work, which began in 2013, was originally estimated to cost €163 million. It involves the extension of intersections, from 750m to 1 500m, which will also allow trains with 100 cars carrying coal to be pulled by six locomotives each, compared to the current 42 cars hauled by two locomotives each.

Mozambique’s Sena rail line links the port of Beira to the coal town of Moatize, between the provinces of Sofala and Tete, over a total distance of 575km, including the Inhamitanga/Marromeu branch line.

The project should also result in improved railway bridges able to handle larger loads while eradication of bends – with a radius less than 300m – should improve security.