VICE President Dr Philip Mipango is today scheduled to preside over the national prayer a head of the 60th anniversary of the union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar in Dodoma.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Dodoma Regional Commissioner Rosemary Senyamule said the prayers to be held at the Jamhuri Stadium in the city will be attended by religious leaders from across the nation.

She said at the prayer service, clerics will pray for the country’s achievement as it marks the 60th anniversary is a great honour for the region and its residents.

According to the RC, the event will be preceded by testing of electric train from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma for the first time.

“I call upon residents to come in large numbers and join our leaders in this historic event, “she said.

The United Republic of Tanzania was formed on April 26, 1964, following the unification of the two sides, with Julius Nyerere becoming the first President, and Sheikh Abedi Amani Karume serving as the first Vice President.

The electric train will be operated in the country’s 722-kilometre standard gauge railway infrastructure from the heart of Dar es Salaam to Makutupora in Dodoma.

The test follows the February 26, 2024, trial covering 300 kilometres from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro, being part of the implementation of an order by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

She directed that by July this year, SGR train services from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma should have begun. 

The first phase of the train trial ride took place on February 26, 2024, from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro, using eight coaches and taking two hours and 20 minutes to reach the region.

The over 720-kilometre Dar-Dodoma line is the first and second phases of the SGR project, which is expected to run up to Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria and Kigoma on the northeastern shores of Lake Tanganyika in five phases.

There are plans to add connections to Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of the East African Railway Master Plan. The line is being extended to Tabora, 294 kilometres in phase three. The fourth phase will link Tabora to Isaka, a 130-kilometre line where it will branch to Mwanza and Kigoma.