TAZARA Trains Return to Mang’ula After a Twenty-Month Gap

Grass path between thatched mud-walled bandas, Udzungwa Mountains National Park

The railway that runs past the gate of Udzungwa Mountains National Park has had an eventful year. TAZARA restarted its cross-border passenger service between Dar es Salaam and Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia on 10 February 2026 after a twenty-month suspension, and on 27 March 2026 the operator laid on unscheduled extra trains between Mlimba and Mang’ula when heavy rain cut the roads.

Mang’ula is the village at the park headquarters, and the TAZARA line runs along the foot of the escarpment through it. For travellers who would rather not drive from Dar es Salaam, the train has always been the alternative. For most of 2024 and 2025 it was an unreliable one.

What restarted, and how often

According to International Railway Journal, the Mukuba international train resumed on 10 February 2026, having been suspended since June 2024 over what TAZARA described as technical challenges. It now runs once a week in each direction rather than twice: out of Dar es Salaam at 15:50 on Fridays, and back from Kapiri Mposhi at 14:00 on Tuesdays. On the Tanzanian side it operates as a stopping service between Dar es Salaam and Msolwa, which is the section that matters for reaching the park.

Separately, TAZARA continues to run its Udzungwa stopping service twice weekly between Kidatu and Makambako. That is the local train, and it serves Mang’ula.

The cross-border service was withdrawn again for a week from 19 May 2026 for maintenance, according to TAZARA’s own notices. That is a reasonable indicator of how much slack there is in the timetable, and it is why the train is best treated as a scenic option rather than a fixed link in an itinerary. Anyone building a schedule around it should still read the full range of routes into Udzungwa before committing.

Rain, roads and the March intervention

On 27 March 2026 TAZARA announced it had authorised unscheduled trips of the Udzungwa train between Mlimba and Mang’ula after heavy rainfall in the Mlimba area damaged roads, bridges and culverts. Managing Director Eng. Bruno Chingandu said in the statement that the authority wanted to keep rail services available while road repairs went on, and advised passengers in the area to exercise caution.

That is a useful data point about the season rather than a one-off. The wet months in this part of the Kilombero valley can make the surfaced road unreliable, which is one of the reasons the dry season is the standard recommendation for visiting. Nothing in the TAZARA notice suggested the park itself closed.

Money behind the line

The longer-term picture is a rebuild. Zambia, Tanzania and China signed a US$1.4 billion revitalisation agreement on 29 September 2025, according to Zambia’s Ministry of Transport and Logistics, with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation as the partner. The rehabilitation programme was formally launched in November 2025. TAZARA’s chief executive acknowledged in late December that 2025 had been a difficult year operationally, citing infrastructure limitations and ageing rolling stock, and said engineering teams were on the ground auditing track, bridges, culverts and signalling.

By July 2026 TAZARA was reporting construction starting on a new training centre and operations control centre. None of that will change journey times soon.

What it means if you are going

Treat the train as a way in that is worth doing for its own sake, with a margin of at least a day either side. Book accommodation that does not punish a late arrival: most of the lodges and guesthouses near the park are within a few kilometres of Mang’ula station. Budget separately for park fees, which the rail fare has nothing to do with and which are set out in full in the cost breakdown for visiting Udzungwa.

If you are combining Udzungwa with the southern circuit, the train does not help much; road remains the practical way to cover the run between Udzungwa and Mikumi. And whichever way you arrive, the question of how many days to allow is worth settling first, because a two-night stay leaves very little room for a missed connection.

What restarted, and how often

Rain, roads and the March intervention

Money behind the line

What it means if you are going

Sources