Agreement to blow new life into railway services

TransNamib Holdings Ltd and Botswana Railways (BR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Gaborone, Botswana on Monday, 26 November. The MoU between the two railway operators signals the beginning of a fruitful and beneficial relationship to develop and enhance trade between the two countries was signed by TransNamib CEO, Mr Johny Smith and his Motswana counterpart Mr Leonard Musa Makwinja. The MoU entails the development and operation of a container terminal in Gobabis.

The cooperation will also help open up imports and exports opportunities and unlock value on the TransKalahari route, even though the two countries are not completely linked by rail yet. This MoU will serves as the short to medium term partner-ship to connect the two rail companies via rail-road inter-modal service between Namibia and Botswana. The inter-modal linkage from Walvis Bay to Gobabis will therefore replace the road transportation return trip with about 1,200 km. The alternative is that goods can be moved from the Port of Walvis Bay to Gobabis by rail and markets to be served includes Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
This agreement serves as impetus and should bring back life into rail again and hope this serves as a starting point to assists the two Governments to develop the Trans Kalahari Railway (TKR) project.
The MoU incorporates collaboration in the areas of Business Development and Marketing, Bench-marking and Operational Excellence, Bu-siness Process Re-engineering and Systems Maps, Train Plan Automation and Signalling Systems, Level Crossings and Siding Connectivity and Human Capital related Learnings & Growth.
Smith said “The future of railways offers many opportunities”, during the signing ceremony.