The SGR, Dar es Salaam to Dodoma

Tanzania has two national railways, and they run side by side. The older one was begun by the Germans in 1905, a metre-gauge line out of Dar es Salaam that followed the caravan route into the interior and reached Lake Tanganyika in 1914. The newer one is the Standard Gauge Railway, the SGR: built to the world's commonest gauge, wired for electric trains from the start and laid beside the old line for most of the way. TRC, the national railway, describes it as the first railway in East and Central Africa built to carry electric trains.

Passengers have ridden it to Morogoro since 14 June 2024 and on to the capital, Dodoma, since 25 July 2024. The fastest trains take 3 hours 17, at up to 160 km/h, on a journey that leaves the city on a viaduct above the streets, passes under the Uluguru Mountains and climbs into the dry centre of the country. The line is being built on to Tabora and Mwanza, on Lake Victoria, but for now Dodoma is as far as a ticket goes.

There are five trains a day each way, every day of the week, in three classes: Royal Class, Business and Economy. Tickets are bought from TRC's own SGR booking site, which is separate from the one for its metre-gauge trains.

The SGR is being built in five sections: Dar es Salaam to Morogoro, Morogoro to Makutupora, Makutupora to Tabora, Tabora to Isaka and Isaka to Mwanza. The first two were let to the Turkish contractor Yapı Merkezi, working with Mota-Engil Africa of Portugal on the first. The contract for Dar es Salaam to Morogoro was signed on 3 February 2017 and work began on 2 May. TRC built the new line beside the old metre-gauge railway, leaving it only where the old one curves too sharply, and fenced it to keep people and animals off the track. The trains are controlled from a central signalling centre in Dar es Salaam using ETCS Level 2.

Out of Dar es Salaam

The trains leave from the new station in the centre of Dar es Salaam, which TRC designed around the gemstone tanzanite, and run out over a 2.56 km viaduct to Ilala, clear of the traffic in and out of the city. Beyond Pugu, the first stop, the line crosses the coastal plain through Soga and Ngerengere. Ruvu has a station, but TRC sells no tickets to it.

Morogoro and the Uluguru

Morogoro comes after 1 hour 27 to 1 hour 56, depending on the train, with the Uluguru Mountains standing over the town. Its station was designed to echo the range. Every train stops here, and one extra Ordinary train a day runs from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro and no further. The metre-gauge railhead reached kilometre 200, close to Morogoro, in 1907.

Into the dry centre

West of Morogoro the Ordinary trains call at Mkata, Kilosa, Kidete, Gulwe and Igandu; the Express stops only at Kilosa, a sisal town the German railhead reached in 1909, and then runs without stopping to Dodoma. The Royal Express does not stop between Morogoro and Dodoma at all. Dodoma was chosen as Tanzania's capital in 1974 and became the official capital in 1996. The SGR continues west of it towards Makutupora, a section not yet open to passengers.

The trains

The trains come from Korea: TRC ordered locomotives, coaches and electric multiple units from Hyundai Rotem and Sung Shin Rolling Stock Technology. Before they arrived, second-hand Austrian class 1014 electrics were used to test the line.

TRC runs five trains a day each way between Dar es Salaam and Dodoma, the same every day of the week: one Express, two Royal Express and two Ordinary trains. The Royal Express is the fastest, at 3 hours 17, and calls only at Pugu and Morogoro. The Express calls at Pugu, Morogoro and Kilosa, and the Ordinary trains at every station except Ruvu. A sixth train, an Ordinary, runs from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro only. All seats are reserved.

Times as of October 2026, from TRC's SGR booking site. Check departures on TRC's SGR booking site (opens in a new tab).

Dar es Salaam to Dodoma

Dodoma to Dar es Salaam

Trains do sell out. On 27 October 2026 the booking site showed no seats left on that evening's 18:55 Ordinary or on the next morning's 06:00 Express.

SGR tickets are sold on TRC's SGR booking site, which is separate from the one for its metre-gauge trains. There are three classes: Royal Class, Business and Economy. The Express and Ordinary trains carry all three; the Royal Express carries only Royal Class and Business.

The cheapest seat to Dodoma the site shows is 31,500 shillings on an Ordinary train and 50,500 on the Express; to Morogoro it is 13,500 and 22,500. Fares in the higher classes, and on the Royal Express, appear only once you sign in to book. Every seat is reserved, so book ahead.

No rail pass covers the SGR. Interrail and Eurail are European schemes, and Tanzania is not among the countries in Interrail's list of covered railway companies (opens in a new tab). Buy a ticket for each journey from TRC.

Checked October 2026 against Interrail's list of covered railway companies (opens in a new tab).

The old German town on the harbour at one end, the capital and its vineyards at the other, and in between the mountains at Morogoro, which every train stops under. Mikumi and the rock art at Kondoa need a road journey on from the railway.

For the other railway out of Dar es Salaam, see the TAZARA, which runs south-west to Zambia.

At just over three hours on the fastest train, Dodoma can be done there and back in a day: the 07:20 Royal Express arrives at 10:37 and the 18:40 brings you back to Dar es Salaam at 21:57. To see the vineyards or go on to Kondoa, stay in Dodoma.

To break the journey for the Uluguru Mountains or Mikumi, stop in Morogoro, which every train calls at.

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