National Railways of Zimbabwe

National Railways of Zimbabwe

The emblem of the NRZ: three rail-sections turned of 120° between each other, between the national colours of Zimbabwe on a dirty electric locomotive
Type	Parastatal
Industry	Rail transport
Predecessor	Rhodesia Railways (RR)
Founded	1980
Headquarters	Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Key people	Mike Karakadzai, general manager
Products	Rail transport, Cargo transport, Services
Owner	Republic of Zimbabwe (100%)
Number of employees	7,543 (2008)
Slogan	Engine for Economic Growth
Website	www.nrz.co.zw

The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is the parastatal railway of Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean railway system was largely constructed during the time of British colonial rule, and part of it represents a segment of the Cape to Cairo Railway. Until 1980 it was called Rhodesia Railways (RR).

Rhodesia Railways

In the colonial era, Rhodesia Railways was the state railway operator in both Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). Although Zambia gained independence in 1964, it was not until 1967 that Rhodesia Railways surrendered the of route and 80–90 locomotives to Zambia Railways.

Rhodesia Railways steam locomotive allocation, 1 June 1975

	Bulawayo	Gwelo	Total
12th class (4-8-2)	5	1	6
14A class (2-6-2+2-6-2)	7	6	13
15th class (4-6-4+4-6-4)	52	0	52
16A class (2-8-2+2-8-2)	8	9	17
19th class (4-8-2)	3	0	3
20th class (4-8-2+2-8-4)	18	0	18
Total	93	16	109

Rhodesia Railways was a heavy user of the Garratt locomotive. In June 1976, 100 of its 109 locomotives were Garratts. For operational purposes, Rhodesia Railways was divided into two areas: those lines north-east of Gwelo (now Gweru) fell into the Eastern Area, with all other lines in the Southern Area.

Operations

Opening of the railroad to Umtali in 1899

NRZ operates about of railway lines, all of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) providing passenger and freight services. The gauge is standard for all of southern Africa. NRZ has an important transit function in the southern part of Africa and is well linked with neighboring countries: toward the north, at Victoria Falls the system links to the Zambia Railways, crossing the Victoria Falls Bridge. Toward the Indian ocean the system links to the Beira Railroad Corporation in Mozambique. A second line toward Mozambique reaches Maputo. To the west, a connecting line link ups to Botswana Railways to reach South Africa, eventually reaching Durban and Cape Town. A direct line to South Africa from Bulawayo was opened in 1999 by the Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway. The 313 km (194-mile) Gweru-Harare section is electrified at 25 kV AC.

Steam

Steam locomotives are still used in Zimbabwe; they have proven so popular with tourists that there are plans to refurbish several more steam locomotives. However, funding is constrained, and diesel-hauled freight transport is a higher priority.

Crisis

The NRZ has also suffered of the general decline of the country's economy. Neglect of maintenance, lacking spare parts and overdue replacement of equipment have led to a situation were only part of the railroad net is in good condition and equipment problems have led to reduced service. Steam locomotives have been reintroduced since 2004 as coal is in relatively good supply, while diesel must be imported and electricity shortages are common. Further, the company is seriously indebted, making it impossible to solve this situation without external help. Goods transport has declined, from 18 million tonnes in 1998 to 2 million tonnes in 2010.

Major accidents

• On 27 August 2006 more than 60 people were killed in a head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train 30 km south of Victoria Falls.
• On 3 June 2006 five fatalities occurred in the Ngungumbane rail crash.
• On 1 February 2003 forty people died in the Dete train crash.

Major lines and stations

Line	Stations	Notes
Victoria Falls – Bulawayo	Victoria Falls Thomson Junction Hwange Dete Bulawayo	Link from Victoria Falls to Zambia Railways, Zambia
Bulawayo – Harare	Bulawayo Somabhula Mbizi Chiredzi Sango Chicualacuala Gweru Masvingo Kwekwe Kadoma Chegutu Harare	Link from Chicualacuala to Maputo, Mozambique
Bulawayo – Francistown	Marula Plumtree, border to Botswana Francistown, Botswana	Part of the line is in Botswana Connects further to Mafeking, South Africa In 1911 Rhodesia Railways was granted a special agreement to preserve its rights of access under the Tati Concessions Land Act, which formally annexed a former territory of Matabeleland, an area including Francistown, to the Bechuanaland Protectorate (modern Botswana).
Harare – Shamva/Kildonan/Zawi	Harare Shamva Maryland, Zimbabwe Kildonan Zawi
Harare – Mutare	Marondera Macheke Rusape Nyazura Mutare,	Link from Mutare to Beira Railroad Corporation, Mozambique
Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway (privately owned)		Connects to Beitbridge, South Africa. The privately owned Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway (BBR) provides a direct rail link to South Africa. This railway was opened in 1999 and will become part of the NRZ after 30 years.

Museum

Steam locomotives of different classes at the museum area (1990)

The Zimbabwe National Railways Museum is in Bulawayo; it has a selection of locomotives, railway carriages and other interesting things. One of the exhibits is a Rhodesia Railways class DE2 diesel locomotive.

Well known employees (past and present)

• Former Vice President Joshua Nkomo worked there as a social worker in 1948.
• Roy Welensky the last Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland worked as an engineer for Rhodesia Railways before entering politics.

See also

• Transport in Zimbabwe

External links

• Official Website
• How to Travel Info
• About the Railway Museum
• illustrated account of the development of the railways of Rhodesia
• Steam Railway Photographs - Zimbabwe