Rail transport in Lesotho

Maseru train station

Lesotho Flour Mills Train (1991)

The rail traffic in Lesotho is characterized by its short route length. The Kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa has only a 1.6 kilometer connection between the capital Maseru and the railway network of South Africa .

history

The line Marseilles - Maseru was built by the South African Railways as a branch of the Bloemfontein - Bethlehem line and opened in October 1905. Like most of the South African rail network, it was built in Cape Gauge. Until 1982 there was passenger traffic on the route, usually with steam traction. Since then, the route has only been used for freight traffic. It serves to connect some industrial companies in Maseru, such as the Lesotho Flour Mills , which has its own locomotive. The traffic is carried out by the South African company Transnet Freight Rail .

Projects

Route extensions such as a continuous connection from Maseru to the country's second most important industrial location , Maputsoe , were discussed, but never got beyond this stage. This would be technically complex, as the terrain has steep slopes due to its sandstone formations .

A rail link between Lesotho and the South African ports in Durban and Ngqura is at the planning stage.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Basutoland . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 3 : Austria - Bisectrix . London 1910, p. 503–506 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
2. ^ Scott Rosenberg, Richard W. Weisfelder, Michelle Frisbie-Fulton: Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. Scarecrow Press, Lanham MD / Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-8108-4871-6 , p. 231.
3. ↑ Address by Jeff Radebe in 2007 , accessed on August 4, 2015.