Rail transport in Zimbabwe

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Zimbabwe with railway lines (black)

The rail transport in Zimbabwe will take place (in 2010) on a network with a length of 3,077 km. All routes still in operation today are built in the Cape gauge common in southern Africa . Most routes are operated by the state-owned National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ). The Bulawayo - Beitbridge route via Mbalabala and Gwanda is privately operated.

topography

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa that is located in the highlands but has only a few mountain ranges. The Zambezi and Limpopo rivers are border rivers of the country to the north and south. Zimbabwe is connected to its four neighboring countries by rail lines. The routes to Beira and Maputo in Mozambique and the route to Richards Bay in South Africa are of great importance for freight traffic . Other cross-border routes lead in the southwest via Plumtree to Botswana and in the west via Victoria Falls to Zambia .

history

Today's Zimbabwe was a British colony from the end of the 19th century , initially administered by the South Africa Company , which in turn was founded by Cecil Rhodes . From 1895 onwards, the area under control of the South Africa Company was called "Rhodesia", and the area that later formed Zimbabwe was called Southern Rhodesia . The overall policy was geared towards the interests of the British colonial power, including the planning of the railway lines. In 1893 the Bechuanaland Railway Company was founded in London with the aim of building a railway line to Victoria Falls, and in 1897 the Mashonaland Railway Co. Ltd. (MRC) with the aim of building and operating a railway between Salisbury (now: Harare ) and Umtali . The Bechuanaland Railway Company was renamed Rhodesia Railways in 1899 . In addition, a number of other companies were founded to build routes in southern Rhodesia and the neighboring areas. In addition to the Cape- gauge lines, there were narrow-gauge lines with gauges of 762 mm and 610 mm.

In 1900 the Beira Railway , from what was then Salisbury to the port city of Beira on the Indian Ocean, was completed. The route was initially operated by the MRC. The construction of a Cape-Cairo railway from South Africa to Egypt was planned, but was only partially implemented, including the sections in today's Zimbabwe. This includes the route from Cape Town in South Africa via what was then Bechuanaland , Bulawayo, Victoria Falls and Northern Rhodesia to what was then Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo . Construction of the 1054-kilometer Bulawayo - Broken Hill section began in 1903 and was completed in 1906. Other main lines were built from Bulawayo to Salisbury and from Somabhula on the Bulawayo – Salisbury to Maputo route. There were also several branch lines within the country.

In 1927 the MRC became part of the RR. In the following years a number of smaller railway companies were also merged with the RR and operations up to Mafeking in South Africa, including the route through Bechuanaland, were taken over. The RR operated most of the railway lines in the Federation of Nyasaland , Northern and Southern Rhodesia, which existed from 1953 to 1963. With the dissolution of this structure, the railway was divided between northern and southern Rhodesia. The railway company kept the name Rhodesia Railways in southern Rhodesia . In 1979 the line was renamed the Zimbabwe Rhodesian Railway , then in 1980 the National Railways of Zimbabwe . This reflects the political change in the state now called Zimbabwe .

The 300-kilometer route from Gweru to Harare was electrified in 1983 (25 kV alternating current, 50 Hz). In 1987 the section located in Botswana became independent and from this a separate state railway was founded in Botswana. In 1999 the privately built and operated Bulawayo – Beitbridge Railway (BBR) opened via Mbalabala and Gwanda. It should fall to the NRZ in 2029. The northern part of the route between Heany Junction and West Nicholson has existed since 1905 and was operated as a branch line of the NRZ until 1999, while the remaining route to Beitbridge was rebuilt. The route serves as a direct connection from Bulawayo to South Africa, so that the detour via Botswana or Somabhula is not necessary.

business

Two parked electric locomotives in the Gweru depot (1990)

The routes are operated in freight and partly in passenger traffic. Freight traffic takes place mainly on the main routes to and from the ports. It is severely restricted due to the country's economic crisis. The route network is described here .

Until 1999, passenger trains ran regularly via Lobatse in Botswana and via Beitbridge to South Africa. In 2009 the number of passenger trains in domestic traffic was reduced. In 2010, five pairs of trains ran from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls per week, and three pairs of trains from Harare to Bulawayo. In addition, tourist luxury trains such as the Blue Train and the Pride of Africa occasionally run through Zimbabwe.

All routes are currently driven by diesel locomotives, as electrical operations between Gweru and Harare had to be discontinued (as of 2010). The largest railway depot is located in Gweru, in the center of the country .

Others

The NRZ Railway Museum is located in Bulawayo .

literature

  • Franz Baltzer : The colonial railways - with a special focus on Africa . Reprint Verlag, Leipzig 2007, ISBN 978-3-8262-0233-9 , pp. 139–147 (year of publication of the original 1916)
  • Neil Robinson: World Rail Atlas and historical summary. Volume 7: North, East and Central Africa. World Rail Atlas Ltd., sl 2009, ISBN 978-954-92184-3-5 , pp. 85ff., Plates 59-66.

Web links

Commons : Rail Transport in Zimbabwe  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on the route length on indexmundi.com (English), accessed on May 9, 2010
  2. ^ Röll entry on Portuguese East Africa , accessed on May 11, 2010
  3. ↑ Michael Bleckmann: The decline of the railroad in Zimbabwe . Extract from the magazine "Lok-Report" on the website of a tour operator, accessed on August 19, 2014.
  4. ↑ Report from Botswana (2006) ( Memento from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on October 6, 2012
  5. ↑ Current timetables and information for passenger transport , accessed on May 10, 2010
  6. ^ News overview for Zimbabwe , accessed on May 11, 2010