Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA), a railway firm co-owned by the Zambian and Tanzanian governments, has suspended its operations on the Zambian side, it said Wednesday. 
Conrad Simuchile, the company’s head of public relations, said operations have been suspended on the Zambian side following a strike by workers which started on Monday this week, according to the state broadcaster — Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation. The suspended operations involve both passenger and freight services from the Zambian town of Kapiri Mposhi to the border town of Nakonde, he added. The official however said operations will continue on the Tanzanian side of the railway line built in the 1970s with the assistance of the Chinese government. China funded the building of the track, which stretches for 1, 860 km in the 1970s to boost links between the two African nations with an interest free-loan of 500 million U.S. dollars. However, the railway firm has been experiencing operational challenges, a move that results in workers going for months without salaries and frequent work stoppages. The two governments have been looking for ways to recapitalize its operations. According to figures from the two governments, the performance of the railway line have undergone a drastic decline from a peak of 1.2 million tons of cargo and over 1 million passengers in 1986/ 87 to less than 340,000 tons and around 900,000 passengers in 2011/ 12. Enditem
