Editing Transport in Malawi (section)

== Rail transport ==
{{main|Malawi Railways}}
{{further|Rail transport in Malawi}}
'''Malawi Railways''' is the national rail network in [[Malawi]], run by a government corporation until privatisation in 1999. As of 1 December 1999 the '''Central East African Railways''', a  consortium led by [[Railroad Development Corporation]], won the right to operate the network. This was the first rail privatisation in Africa which did not involve a parastatal operator.<ref name="RGI">{{cite magazine| url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/news_view/article/2004/06/3652/a_luta_continua.html| title=A luta continua! | magazine=[[Railway Gazette International]] | first1=Bradley J|last1=Knapp|first2=Henry|last2=Posner III|author-link2=Henry Posner III|date=June 2004| access-date=2007-09-03 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927184805/http://www.railwaygazette.com/news_view/article/2004/06/3652/a_luta_continua.html |archive-date = 2007-09-27}}</ref>

The rail network totalled 797 kilometres in 2001. It is a narrow gauge line with a {{RailGauge|1067mm}} track.

=== Railway links with adjacent countries ===
The {{convert|797|km|mi|adj=on}}, {{RailGauge|3ft6in|lk=on|first=met}} gauge line extends from the [[Zambia]]n border at [[Mchinji]] in the west via [[Lilongwe]] to [[Blantyre, Malawi|Blantyre]] and Makhanga in the south.  At [[Nkaya Junction]] it links with the [[Nacala railway|Nacala Corridor line]] going east via Nayuchi to [[Mozambique]]'s deepwater port at [[Nacala]] on the [[Indian Ocean]].  The [[Sena railway|link south]] from Makhanga to Mozambique's [[Beira, Mozambique|Beira]] corridor has been closed since the [[Mozambique Civil War]], with plans for reconstruction not yet realised.

There is no direct link with neighbouring [[Transport in Tanzania|Tanzania]] as there is a [[break of gauge]], {{RailGauge|1067mm}}/{{RailGauge|1000mm}} . An extension from [[Mchinji]] to [[Chipata]] in [[Zambia]] opened in 2010,<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/news-in-brief-40.html
|access-date=2010-09-26
|title=Railway Gazette: News in Brief
|archive-date=2010-10-01
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001190217/http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/news-in-brief-40.html
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> and there is a proposal to eventually link up from there with the TAZARA railway at [[Mpika]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.railwaysafrica.com/2010/06/chipata-railway-2/ |title=CHIPATA RAILWAY &#124; Railways Africa |access-date=2010-11-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606164216/http://www.railwaysafrica.com/2010/06/chipata-railway-2/ |archive-date=2010-06-06 }}</ref> Direct linkage is available with [[Transport in Mozambique|Mozambique]], however, which has the same gauge track. Linkage is called the Nacala Corridor line via Nayuchi to the port of [[Nacala]], and [[Nsanje]] to the [[Dona Ana Bridge]] and [[Beira, Mozambique|Beira]]. The latter link has not been operational since the war in Mozambique and is in need of reconstruction.

=== Rail developments in 2006 ===
In 2006, a Brazilian company ([[Vale (mining company)|VALE]]) announced plans to build a rail branch line to the [[Moatize]] coal mine in western Mozambique from the [[Nacala railway|Nacala Corridor line]] to export coal via the port of [[Nacala]]; the link would cross Malawi. The national [[Railroad Development Corporation]] map shows a proposed extension across the border to [[Chipata]] in [[Zambia]]. [[Central East African Railways]], previously a subsidiary of the Railroad Development Corporation, operates the privatised [[Malawi Railways]] network.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/news_view/article/2004/06/3652/a_luta_continua.html| title=A luta continua| magazine=[[Railway Gazette International]] | first1=Bradley J|last1=Knapp|first2=Henry|last2=Posner III|author-link2=Henry Posner III|date=June 2004| access-date=2007-09-03 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927184805/http://www.railwaygazette.com/news_view/article/2004/06/3652/a_luta_continua.html |archive-date = 2007-09-27}}</ref> Also in 2006, the president of Malawi, [[Bingu wa Mutharika]] asked his Mozambiquan counterpart, [[Armando Guebuza]], to consider the provision of a new 250 kilometre rail connection from [[Nsanje]] - the then-current southern extent of [[Malawi Railways]] - to the [[Indian Ocean]] port of [[Chinde]], near the mouth of the Zambesi.