The prismatic bluish-purple jewel glitters in the sunlight, and the glass panels shine like an oversized version of it.
In less than four hours, the trains—which are powered by electricity, a first for the area—transport passengers from the commercial center to the capital, Dodoma, in half the time it takes by automobile.
The construction of a 2,560km (1,590-mile) Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), which is intended to connect important cities and establish connections with neighbors Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is the beginning of one of the nation’s strategic projects.
President Samia Suluhu declared the railway to be “a pathway to our future” that would “enhance our standing in the region” in August, marking the opening of the 460-kilometer (285-mile) section from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma.
The station in Dodoma is another impressive structure that aims to combine modernism with the nation’s natural heritage by emulating the rocky hills surrounding the city.
The capital is hesitant. Fifty years ago, it was declared the center of power in the middle of the country, but it took the tenacious late President John Magufuli to compel government agencies to move.
