The main objective of ordering these locomotives is to increase the passenger transport capacity from the current 80 thousand / month to more than 400 thousand / month in urban and suburban traffic in Benguela and Lobito.
The reception ceremony of these Multiple Diesel Units (DMU’s), as they are called, took place this Wednesday in Porto do Lobito. The locomotives arrived in Angola from Singapore and transported by a Chinese flag ship.
According to the director general of the National Institute of Railways of Angola (INCFA), Ottoniel Manuel, these three railcars are part of a batch of 12 destined to urban passenger transport in the provinces of Benguela, Luanda and Huíla.
The official also mentioned, cited by Angop, that each unit has the capacity to transport a total of 696 tours, of which 190 are seated and 506 are standing.
These railcars will replace the locomotives that used to transport passengers on the Benguela-Lobito section, and will now reinforce the transport of long-distance goods, from Lobito to Luau.
On the other hand, the chairman of the Board of Directors of Benguela Railway, Luís Teixeira, said that 16 Angolan train drivers were already prepared to operate the new trains.
For after the pandemic, a strengthening of rail connections between the cities of Benguela and Lobito is foreseen, always depending on passenger demand. The company is also studying the possibility of night circulation, to support workers and students.
