Mozambique: Rail passenger numbers nearly double YoY to 151,000 in Q1

Activity on Mozambique’s railway network almost doubled in the first quarter of the year, reaching 151,400 passengers, recovering from the effects of post-electoral protests in 2025 and despite the impact of floods, according to a government report. Data from the Ministry of Transport and Logistics indicates that the 2026 plan forecasts a total of nearly 631,000 passengers on Mozambique’s railway network. Passenger traffic in the first quarter represented a 95% increase compared with the 77,300 passengers transported between January and March last year.

“This performance was influenced by the acquisition of four additional locomotives for passenger transport, the restoration of vandalised lines, and the doubling of the Ressano Garcia railway line. The quarter was also characterised by a relatively stable socio-economic environment, facilitating a higher frequency of railcars and locomotives,” the quarterly implementation report states. Mozambique experienced a period of significant social unrest and electoral contestation between October 2024 and March 2025, marked by protests, demonstrations, destruction of public and private property, including railway infrastructure, as well as clashes with police that resulted in more than 400 deaths.

In freight transport, the document indicates that 3.6 million tonnes of cargo were moved during the three-month period, an increase of 14.9% compared with 2025 and nearly 20% of the annual target. However, during the same first three months of the year, state-owned Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) recorded losses of US$47 million (€40.1 million), resulting from untransported cargo and damage to infrastructure and equipment caused by floods that mainly affected the southern part of the country. “These are significant figures that could compromise the results projected for 2026 if effective measures are not adopted.

[paywall]

It should be recalled that in 2025 we faced losses resulting from acts of vandalism linked to post-electoral protests,” said the chairman of the CFM board, Agostinho Langa. From January to March, according to the quarterly execution report, road transport led nationally, with an official estimate of 8.2 million passengers transported, a year-on-year increase of 1.3%, while air transport grew by 30% to 140,430 passengers, against a government annual target of nearly 590,000 passengers for 2026. This performance corresponds, according to the document, to production of 19.9 million meticais (€268,000) in railway passenger transport and 2,797 million meticais (€37.7 million) in railway freight transport in the first quarter. Air transport corresponded to 654 million meticais (€8.8 million) in passenger services and 58.9 million meticais (€800,000) in cargo, while road transport accounted for seven million meticais (€95,000) in passenger transport and 1,826 million meticais (€24.6 million) in freight.

[/paywall]