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B O T S W A N A R A I L W A Y S

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Botswana Railways (BR) is Botswana’s state owned

railway company.By Ian Armitage

T R AC K I N G T H E

M ost southern African countries are heavily investing in rail

line expansions to transport more export coal to ports to meet growing global demand, especially from Asia.

Botswana is no different.In September, India’s Minister of

State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia stressed the need to ‘diversify trade’ between India and Botswana. He offered technical assistance to Botswana in the strengthening of rail network and other transport logistics.

Some Indian fi rms, including government-run infrastructure fi rms RITES and IRCON of the Indian Railways, have already provided technical consultancy services to Botswana for various infrastructure projects.

As a land locked country, with huge natural reserves, Botswana’s rail network is vital and thus there is a great opportunity for Botswana Railways, which discontinued its passenger train (the ‘blue train’) on 1 April 2009.

Botswana Railways (BR) is the national railway of Botswana. It was created in 1987 when the government of Botswana bought out the Botswana-based sections of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ). NRZ had been initially operating the rail system after Botswana had gained independence.

“Botswana Railways has a railway network that comprises of a main line which runs from Ramatlabama in the south and Bakaranga in the north, three

branch lines which connect Botswana Railways’ stations to the mines from which BR transports commodities, crossing loops, private and service sidings as well as station yards,” the company told South Africa Magazine.

The distance for the entire railway network of Botswana Railways is: Main Line - 640 km; Francistown to Sua Pan (branch line) - 174.5 km; Palapye to Morupule Colliery (branch line) - 16 km; Private Sidings - 50 km; Service Sidings - 20 km; Station Yards - 30 km; and Crossing Loops - 20 km.

“The Main Line comprises of long welded 50 kg/m rails, which are continuously welded on concrete sleepers with 50 kg/m turn out sets,” the BR said. “The Francistown to Sua Pan Branch line is made up of long welded 40 kg/m rails which are continuously welded on concrete sleepers with 40 kg/m turn out sets; and Serule to Selibe-Phikwe and Palapye to Morupule branch lines comprise of jointed 40 kg/m rails on steel sleepers with 40 kg/m turn out sets.

“BR signed an agreement with Ansaldo Union Switch and Signal, a company based in Queensland, Australia, to design and construct the signalling and telecommunications infrastructure for the entire

Botswana Railways FEATURE

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BR network. BR and Ansaldo agreed to form a joint venture entity to carry out the maintenance contract of the signalling and telecommunications infrastructure. An agreement was also signed between BR and the Rail Project Group as represented by Ansaldo Union Switch and Signals,” it continued.

Botswana’s railway systems have been around for quite some time, and have seen major changes, especially as of late.

Passenger services used to operate between Francistown and Lobatse however, these day time services stopped in 2006 and overnight services stopped in 2009 in order to focus solely on the highly lucrative freight and parcel transportation.

Plans for new railways are in the mix with the 1,500 km Trans Kalahari Railway planned.

Robert Kalomo, Namibia’s Director of Railway Affairs in the Ministry of Works said in February that construction of the TransKalahari Railway would take five years, with costs expected to range between $5-9 billion.

The Trans-Kalahari line would stretch from Mmamabula to Walvis Bay, with a possibility of a connection to the South African Waterberg coal field, touted to become South Africa’s next major coal mining area.

Several consortiums have submitted bids for the project, including Canadian-listed CIC Energy Corporation, Kalomo said.

“The setup of this terminal is not specified, but it will be as modern as possible to reduce harmful side-effects on the environment,” Kalomo said.

He added that the country was also looking at extending its rail network to Katima Mulio on the Zambian border.

The Namibian-Zambian rail line would enable Zambian minerals to be exported via the west-coast port, avoiding the congested routes through Durban and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

“Namibia (would) also revisit the idea to construct a new port at Cape Fria near the Angolan border,” Kalomo said.

In October 2010, Botswana Railways started building a large shopping mall near Gaborone Station to add to its business model. It is projected to create thousands of jobs for Botswana, where unemployment and poverty are high. The shopping mall will create 3,000 jobs when in full operation.

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Botswana Railways FEATURE

We understand

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Specialists in maintenance, repair, upgrade, conversion and manufacture of rolling stock, components and rail support services.

Tel: +27 (0)12 391 1304 Fax: +27 (0)12 391 1371 Email: sales@transnet.net

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“We understand the importance of job creation and expanding our brand,” BR told South Africa Magazine.

With this important ideology in mind, Botswana Railways launched a private company, Botswana Railways Properties (Pty) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary. The goal behind the venture is to work within the world of real estate and property management. Real estate in Botswana is bursting with potential and Botswana Railways Properties helps to manage the company’s already existing assets.

“Botswana Railways Properties came about from the revision of the Botswana Railways Act in 2004, which allowed for commercialisation of Botswana Railways’ land,” BR said. “The formation of Botswana Railways Properties will make the company more commercially viable and add to its appeal in the property market. “ END

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