The Usambara-Railway was the first railway to be built in German East Africa

German East Africa

German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....

 and what is today Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

.
A railway company was created in 1891 with the aim, to connect the port of Tanga

Tanga, Tanzania

Tanga is both the name of the most northerly seaport city of Tanzania, and the surrounding Tanga Region. It is the Regional Headquarters of the region.With a population of 243,580 in 2002, Tanga is one of the largest cities in the country...

 at the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

 with the Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....

 by passing south of the Usambara Mountains

Usambara Mountains

The Usambara Mountains are a mountain range in North-East Tanzania, approximately long and ranging from 20 to in width. Mountains in the range rise as high as 8,000 ft ....

. 1000 mm gauge was chosen. Since June 1893 the line advanced from Tanga inland. Due to undercapitalization the company had to be taken over by the state in 1899.