- Tsaone Segaetsho
Botswana Railways has spent over P34.5 million to procure locomotive spares and permanent way spares and services from Worldwide Rail and Mining Solutions (Pty), a South African company.
Transport Minister Eric Molale told Parliament recently that Botswana Railways further spent an additional P5 million to procure additional locomotive spares and permanent way spares and services from Worldwide Rail and Mining Solutions (Pty).
Botswana Railways has been working to revamp its locomotives since 2014. The railway company has been maintaining its locomotive fleet, which includes 20 General Motors Model GT22LC-2 diesel-electric locomotives (1986 model), 8 General Electric UM 22C diesel-electric locomotives (1982 model), 10 General Electric U15C diesel-electric locomotives (1990 model), 8 General Motors Model GT42AC diesel-electric locomotives (2017 model), and the latest addition, 8 Grindrod GL30SC-AS locomotives.
In 2016, Botswana Railways attempted to reintroduce the now-defunct passenger train. At that time, Botswana Railways bought 37 locomotives (mostly of BD5 class) with 22 coaches for P1 billion, but there were issues with delayed mechanical and electric testing. After re-fleeting its locomotives in 2017, Botswana Railways stated that the national carrier was working on remedying the challenges of reliability with its old fleet.
On 5 July this year, Botswana Railways added six new trucks to its fleet to address operational and rail maintenance logistical challenges. The state-owned rail agency said this would help the company maintain high performance and reliability standards.
Botswana Railways has been gearing up and revamping its fleet in preparation for the Mmamabula/Lephalale Rail Link, which will be used for goods transportation or trade exchange with South Africa. Meanwhile, the latest statistics from Stats Bots show that in the first quarter of 2024, Botswana Railways increased the volume and value of goods it transported. A volume of 268,247 tonnes with a value of P65.01 million was railed by the national agency in the first quarter of 2024, while in the fourth quarter of 2023, Botswana Railways moved 251,781 tonnes of goods valued at P62.3 million. This movement of goods by Botswana Railways is expected to improve as the fleet is repaired and serviced.
Botswana is also planning a rail connection and a port to Mozambique for the movement of coal exports from the landlocked country, a project which will be financed by the African Development Bank. Zimbabwe is also expected to be a partner in the project as it should pave a rail network in Mozambique. Botswana Railway is expected to rail its 212 billion tons of coal reserves to the world with the new Botswana-Zimbabwe-Mozambique rail link. Botswana is eager to find ways to get its coal to market before the world’s efforts to transition to renewable energy render it a stranded asset.
