The Mozambique Railways Company (CFM) has suspended train services on the Ressano Garcia and Goba railway lines, which connect Maputo to neighbouring South Africa and Eswatini respectively, due to flooding, an official source said today. “We have the Ressano Garcia line, linking the port of Maputo to the Ressano Garcia border with South Africa, where we have experienced some landslides that we are currently working to repair. There are also areas around Moamba where floodwaters have overtopped the railway platform, and we are working to open drainage channels to allow the water to flow away,” said Arnaldo Manjate, director of railway operations for CFM-South, in an interview with Lusa.
According to Manjate, soil erosion caused by heavy rain has displaced ballast, rails, and sleepers, causing damage along the infrastructure. The suspension of train services on the Ressano Garcia line is primarily due to floodwaters overtopping several points, including in the Matola-Gare area of the Matola municipality. CFM is digging drainage ditches alongside the tracks to help channel the water away.
A similar situation has been reported along the Goba line, which connects Maputo to Eswatini, where services have also been suspended due to floodwaters damaging the infrastructure and making passage impossible. “There has been sediment build-up and waters have been overtopping the railway line due to the strength of the water and poor surface drainage in this area,” Manjate explained. These lines join the Limpopo railway—the longest line in the south connecting Mozambique with Zimbabwe—where services have also been suspended due to heavy rains in the southern region of the country.
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“Overall, all our lines [in the south] are practically affected during this flooding period, which is why we have banned train operations,” said the CFM-South operations director, adding that services will only resume once the weather improves and infrastructure is repaired. The official added that CFM is still assessing the full extent of the damage. The Mozambican government estimated today that 40% of Gaza province is submerged.
Several districts in Maputo are flooded, and at least 152 kilometres of roads have been completely destroyed. According to the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, an assessment made by last Friday shows that more than 3,000 kilometres of classified roads across the country have been significantly affected. At least 103 people have died and 173,000 have been affected since the start of the rainy season in Mozambique, with 1,160 houses totally destroyed and another 4,000 partially flooded, the government reported on Friday, declaring a national red alert.
Rescue efforts continue today to assist hundreds of families still trapped by the floods, some sheltering on rooftops, car roofs, or up in trees, particularly in Maputo and Gaza provinces in southern Mozambique. The near-continuous heavy rains over recent days have forced dams, including those in neighbouring countries, to increase water releases sharply due to capacity limits.
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