Maputo, Jan. 23, 2026 (Lusa) - The Mozambique Railway Company (CFM-Sul) will resume passenger transport in the south of the country on Monday, 12 days after the interruption due to flooding, it was announced on Friday.
In a statement, the state-owned company said it will resume passenger transport on the Goba line, as well as the Matola-Gare, Manhiça and Marracuene routes on the Ressano Garcia and Limpopo lines, respectively, all in southern Mozambique.
"The resumption of passenger trains is part of the company's efforts to ensure the movement of people and goods after the interruption of services, caused by torrential rains that affected the safety and operability of the railway line," it explained.
On Monday, Lusa reported that Caminhos de Ferro de Mozambique (CFM-Sul) had suspended services on the Ressano Garcia and Goba railway lines, which connect Maputo to neighbouring South Africa and Eswatini, respectively, due to flooding, according to an official source.
"We have the Ressano Garcia line, which connects the port of Maputo to the Ressano border with South Africa, where we had some points where we had landslides, which we are working to repair. We also have points in the Moamba area where water has flooded the line platform and we are working to open channels for water drainage," said the director of railway operations at CFM-Sul at the time.
According to Arnaldo Manjate, soil erosion caused by rain, ballast, suspended rails and sleepers were among the most significant damage to infrastructure, with CFM indicating that the interruption of train traffic on the Ressano Garcia line was mainly due to water flooding some points, such as in the Matola-Gare area, in the district of Matola, with CFM proceeding to open ditches on the banks of the railway to allow water to drain away.
A similar scenario was observed along the Goba line, which connects Maputo to neighbouring Eswatini, where traffic was also interrupted due to rainwater flooding the line, affecting the infrastructure and making it impossible to run trains.
Earlier, on 15 January, the railway company had also announced the interruption of traffic on the Limpopo Line, the longest in the southern region, which connects Mozambique to Zimbabwe.
Almost 617,000 people have been affected since 7 January by widespread flooding in Mozambique, with 12 deaths, according to provisional data from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD).
Today, efforts and attempts continue to rescue hundreds of families who remain cut off by the floods, some of whom have taken refuge on the roofs of houses, mainly in Maputo and Gaza provinces, in southern Mozambique, as a result of heavy rains, which have been almost uninterrupted for several days and have led dams, including those in neighbouring countries, to release large amounts of water due to lack of capacity.
More than a dozen aircraft, including from South Africa, as well as private and Navy vessels, are involved in these operations, which are dependent on weather conditions.
In Maputo, National Road 1 to the north and National Road 2 to the south remain impassable due to rising waters.
PME/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
