Annual report on Nyasaland / Colonial Office.

  • Colonial Office
Date:
[1946]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on Nyasaland / Colonial Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    51/68 page 47
    steamers. There has been a steady increase year by year in the goods and passenger traffic carried, except for a drop in 1944, when imports were small. Taking the section of the line served by Nyasaland Railways Ltd., goods traffic increased between 1939 and 1945 by nearly two-thirds, from 64,000 tons to 109,000 tons, and passengers carried rose by 126 per cent., from 107,000 to 242,000; the passenger figure includes those carried by the Sentinel Coaches which operate on the more populous parts of the line. It is a noteworthy achievement that the increased traffic was moved with the same engines and rolling stock as were available in 1939. Figures for 1946 are not yet available. The railway accident at Konjeni, in January, 1946, already referred to, was the first fatal accident in the history of Nyasaland’s railways. No others occurred during the year, and the only serious interruption of traffic was during March and April, when the flooded Shire River breached the line between Chiromo and Pokera Stations, and for six weeks passengers, mails, and a limited quantity of goods traffic were trans-shipped by river steamers. The con¬ struction of a new bridge and the realignment of the rail approaches at this point are in hand. Construction by the Portuguese Government of a railway connecting the Central Africa Railway at Dona Anna with Tete proceeds slowly. One hundred kilometres have been completed, and the remainder is expected to be finished within the next three years. ROADS AND VEHICLES Nyasaland is well served with roads and has good connections with neighbouring territories. The spinal column of its road system is the route from the Portuguese border on the Ruo River, near Mlanje, through Limbe to Blantyre, and thence north across the Shire at the Murchsion Bridge, through the Central and Northern Provinces, and on to join the Northern Rhodesian and Tanganyika systems at Tunduma. Most other roads of importance are in effect links between this route and the railway or the lake. The total mileage of main roads, excluding the townships, is 1,856, of which only four miles are full-width tarmac. There are also 540 miles of other roads maintained by the Public Works Department, and some 1,500 miles maintained by the District Administration or the Native Authorities, but these are mostly for use by light traffic in the dry season only. The cost of maintenance of these roads varies from £30 a mile for metalled main roads to about 30s. a mile for minor district roads. During 1946 construction was begun of a new feeder road to the railway, from Mlanda in the Ncheu District to Golomoti Station. This will be about seventeen miles long, passing through difficult hilly country, and dropping over 3,000 feet in some ten miles. General improvement of other roads continued, particularly in respect of bridging and drainage works on the Great North Road and the Fort Johnston-Monkey Bay and Ekwendeni-Nkata Bay roads. As regards motor transport, the year was notable for the formation of the Nyasaland Transport Co., Ltd., which will run omnibus services between all the more important places in the country. It is expected to begin operations in June, 1947, and will afford a welcome means of employment for many technically-trained ex-soldiers.
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