Botswana is on track to become a rail hub as plans to connect to Zambia, Walvis Bay and Maputo start gaining traction.Bids have been received for a public-private partnership (PPP) to construct a 1 500-kilometre Trans-Kalahari line to Walvis Bay.Coal mines in the eastern part of the country will provide the base load, with construction scheduled to start in 2025.Plans for the line were revived after the near collapse of the South African port system.A memorandum of understanding for the railway line was signed by the governments of Namibia and Botswana in 2010 and a pre-feasibility study was concluded in 2011, followed by a bilateral agreement in 2014 and the completion of a development study in 2016.The line will run from Gaborone through the Kalahari Desert to an existing railhead at Gobabis in Namibia and from there to Walvis Bay.It will also provide a rail link for South African companies in Gauteng, according to Botswana transport and public works minister Eric Molale.Molale was speaking at a Trans Kalahari Joint MInisterial Committee meeting in Swakopmund about rail developments in Botswana.Molale said there had been 12 submissions in response to an Expression of Interest (EOI) for funding the feasibility study and development of the line.A start has already been made on the Gobabis dry port, with Botswana Rail subsidiary Sea Rail signing a lease agreement with TransNamib Holdings for the Gobabis Station warehousing facilities. According to Derick Mokgatle, acting managing director of Sea Rail, the company has invested R64 million in the Gobabis facility, bringing its capacity to 70 000 tons. Rail links to the eastern ports of Maputo, Richards Bay and Durban are being strengthened through partnerships with Transnet and the National Railways of Zimbabwe.A route has been established through Zimbabwe to Maputo.Transnet and Botswana Rail are collaborating to establish a PPP for a 113-kilometre, 24 million-tons per year Mmamabula-Lephalale link to connect with existing lines to Richards Bay and Maputo.It will carry import and export commodities such as coal, sugar and fuel from Mozambique through Zimbabwe to Botswana. A strategic partnership between Botswana Freight Railways and Transnet Freight Rail was finalised in December 2023.Botswana Ash will maintain the Botswana rolling stock Looking north, a bankable feasibility study for the Mosetse-Kazungula-Livingstone route has commenced and is expected to be delivered in June 2025.
