Botswana Railways (BR) is the national railway of

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

History

Botswana Railways (BR) was established in 1987 when the

government of Botswana The Government of Botswana often abbreviated as GOB, is the union government created by the constitution of Botswana having the executive, parliament, and the judiciary. The Seat of the Government is located in Gaborone, Botswana. The governme ...

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. Management of the BR is supported by RITES Ltd. of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The opening of the Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

in 1999 resulted in a major drop in the volume of freight transit and income. As a response the BR has been considering the construction of a direct line to

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

( Zambia Railways), bypassing

, to regain income from transit. On 27 February 2009, an announcement was made of the termination of all Botswana Railways passenger services. However, passenger trains operated by National Railways of

(NRZ) continued to run from

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

Lobatse Lobatse is a town in south-eastern Botswana, 70 kilometres south of the capital Gaborone, situated in a valley running north towards Gaborone and close to the border with South Africa. Lobatse has a population of 29,772 as of 2022. The town is ...

via Plumtree,

Francistown Francistown is the second-largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 103,417 inhabitants and 147,122 inhabitants in its agglomeration at the 2022 census. It is located in eastern Botswana, about north-northeast from the capital, Gabo ...

and

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

. As of October 2010, BR was building a large

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

near

station, and expressed hopes that passenger services might resume, although BR could not give any concrete details. In December 2014 Botswana Railways announced that it would purchase new passenger cars and locomotives and that passenger services would resume in late 2015. A passenger service between

and

, marketed under the name BR Express, eventually began operation in March 2016.

Network

The Botswana Railways system consists of of Cape gauge track. The main line runs through the south-eastern region of Botswana from Mahikeng in South Africa through

Mahalapye Mahalapye is a town located in the Central District of Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory pa ...

Palapye Palapye is a growing town in Botswana, situated about halfway between Francistown and Gaborone ( from Francistown and from Gaborone). Over the years its position has made it a convenient stopover on one of Southern Africa's principal north–so ...

and

to Plumtree in Zimbabwe. In addition there are three branch lines: from Palapye to

Morupule Colliery The Morupule Colliery is a coal mine located in Palapye, Botswana, owned and operated by Debswana, a partnership between the government of Botswana and De Beers. The coalfield is composed of four main seams, only one of which, the No. 1 Seam, ...

, from Serule to Selebi-Phikwe, and from Francistown to Sowa. *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 *Crossing Loops - 20 km

Fleet

Locomotives

*8 GE UM22C diesel-electric locomotives, 1982 *20 EMD GT22LC-2 diesel electric locomotives, 1986 *10 GE U15C diesel electric locomotives, 1990 * 8 EMD GT42AC diesel electric, 2017

Purchase of passenger cars and locomotives

In December 2014 Botswana Railways announced that they would purchase three generator vans, five first class sleepers, 18 economy class coaches, five business class coaches, three buffet cars and a luggage van.

Regional train

Botswana Railways run 2 nightly passenger trains, one from

, and the other from Francistown to Lobatse, with stops in

, and Serule. The passenger train is termed the "BR Express".

Commuter train

BR Express operates a commuter train system between

and

. The train departs from

at 05:30 and arrives at

in 06:49. The train returns to

in the evening, departing from

at 18:00 and arriving at

at 19:34. The train stops at Otse, Ramotswa and Commerce Park Halt.

Railway links to adjacent countries

Botswana Railways are connected to

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n lines, both using the same gauge. There is no direct connection with

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

, but one does exist via South Africa, although an electrified railway connecting to Lüderitz in

for coal traffic was scheduled to open in 2006. In August 2010,

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

and

signed a

memorandum A memorandum (: memorandums or memoranda; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered"), also known as a briefing note, is a Writing, written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviation, ...

of understanding to develop an 1100 km railway through

, to carry coal from Serule in Botswana to a deep-water port at Techobanine Point in

. A new rail link between

and

, bypassing

, was mooted in 2005 by Botswana Railways (BR) general manager Andrew Lunga. The line was envisaged as running south-westwards from Livingstone, crossing the

Zambezi The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

, then continuing to a junction with the existing BR tracks at Mosetse. Lunga's proposal arose following the serious loss of traffic suffered by BR following the opening of the Beitbridge-Bulawayo line, after which annual BR freight tonnage fell from 1.1m per annum to about 150,000.

's economic problems had worsened the situation, prejudicing free traffic flow. The suggested line, Lunga pointed out, would provide important alternative routes linking

and the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

.RailwaysAfrica
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Gallery of Botswana Rail

Botswana Rail Express train.jpg, Botswana railways Train at

station Botswana Rail Express train5.jpg,

Cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

train at

station Botswana Railways (BR EXPRESS).jpg, Botswana Rail showcasing their work at the World telecommunications and informations society day 2017 Blue_Train_in_Notwane_Bridge.jpg, Botswana railways train passing the Notwane bridge, in

References

External links

Botswana Railways
{{Authority control Railway companies of Botswana 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Botswana Botswana companies