Turkish firm to build high-speed rail line in E. Africa

Turkish firm to build high-speed rail line in E. Africa

World Bulletin / News Desk

Turkish construction enterprise Yapi Merkezi is building a high-speed rail line in East Africa, said the company in a press release on Thursday.

The Istanbul-based company said railroad project will connect Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania and provide access to the Indian Ocean from East Africa.

The first part of the project will link the Tanzania's largest city Dar es Salaam with the city of Morogoro involving 205 kilometers (127.3 miles) out of total 1,224 kilometers (760.5 miles).

The firm said the groundbreaking ceremony of the nearly $1.1 billion project was held on April 12 in Tanzania.

It added trains will be able to travel up to 160 kilometers per hour (99.4 miles per hour) on the railway between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro.

The joint venture between Yapi Merkezi and Portuguese company Mota-Engil will enable Dar es Salaam, one of Africa's most important tourist destinations, to make a breakthrough in terms of commerce and tourism, the firm said.

The Turkish and Portuguese companies won the tender held by the Tanzanian Railways Authority (Reli Assets Holding Company Limited) on Dec. 6, 2016.

Founded in 1965, Yapi Merkezi completed 41 railroad projects by the end of 2016. The Turkish company lastly completed the Eurasia Tunnel, which is an underground road link spanning Istanbul's European and Asian sides.

Mota-Engil has 71 years of experience in the industry and is regarded as one of the top Portuguese construction companies.

Legal Notice: Copyright, trade marks and other intellectual property rights in this website can not be reproduced without the prior permission.

Fugitive Romanian media boss caught in Serbia

The 38-year-old Sebastian Ghita had false Slovenian papers and was with his brother when he was caught, the Romanian interior ministry said.

Tanzania orders 'drug kingpin' be extradited to US

According to a statement issued by US Treasury last year, Shkuba obtained large quantities of heroin from sources in south-west Asia, and cocaine from South American suppliers.

Uzbekistan says Stockholm suspect had ties to ISIL

Russian agency Interfax on Wednesday quoted an anonymous security source in Uzbekistan who said a warrant had been issued for Rakhmat Akilov's arrest on extremism charges in February.

EU's 'foreign fighter' traffic checks cause chaos at border

The EU said the systematic checks at Schengen borders were designed to identify foreign fighters returning from Iraq and Syria.

Congo: Suspected killer of 2 UN workers arrested

Army's top prosecutor says another suspect escaped following detention over last month's killing of two UN experts

Pentagon's Mattis heads to Middle East, Africa

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis will travel to the Middle East and Africa next week to meet with regional allies "to re-affirm key US military alliances,"

Flood-hit Colombia receives Turkish agency's aid

Flood-affected Colombian city receives Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency's aid packages

Russian economic crisis far from over, experts say

Russia needs structural reforms, flexible fiscal policies and lifting of sanctions to get out of recession, economists say

Hacked files suggest NSA penetrated SWIFT, Mideast banks

The SWIFT system is used by banks to transfer trillions of dollars each day.

US-Russian election probe heads into Cyprus

Cyprus has become a part of the sprawling probe following an Associated Press report last month where it is alleged Paul Manafort may have received through Cypriot banks.

Arkansas multiple execution plan faces legal setbacks

There have been mounting protests over the executions in front of the state Capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas.

US vice president to begin Asia tour amid Korea tension

Pence travels to region as fears grow of possible North Korea missile, nuclear tests to commemorate founder

Delta Air Lines to offer $10K for bumping

Moves follows controversial United Airlines episode

Ukraine's anti-graft fight targets telecoms

Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko announced Thursday that a Kiev court had "frozen" the shares of tycoon Rinat Akhmetov in the Ukrtelecom company and its subsidiary TriMob.

Tanzania gunmen kill 8 police in restive region

"President John Pombe Magufuli is surprised and very sorry to learn of the news of the death of eight police officers killed last night by armed people," Tanzania's presidency said in a statement.

Canada announces sanctions against key Syrian officials

The latest sanctions were Canada's first against Syria and Assad since 2014 when a conservative government was in office.

Source: Turkish firm to build high-speed rail line in E. Africa