The Mozambican War of Independence and the subsequent Mozambican Civil War caused disruptions in Eswatini's port trade through Mozambique, and in 1977, the South African Railways Company agreed to build a link between the Golela train station and the stretch existing in Siphofaneni/Phuzumoya and Mpaka. This line, opened in 1978, gave Eswatini rail access to Durban and Richards Bay.