A feasibility study into the construction of a new railway line linking the DRC, Zambia and Mozambique has been brought to an abrupt halt due to the global corona pandemic and subsequent country lockdowns.The study, however, would continue as soon as lockdown restrictions were lifted and the appointed consultants from South Africa could travel again, said Boetie Zandberg, director of Engineering for Railnet International.The US-based company has been in talks with the governments in all three countries, as well as Zimbabwe, and has memorandums of understanding in place as well as signed agreements.Railnet International plans to invest an estimated $11 billion in the new railway line that will mainly move bulk commodities from the Copperbelt to Mozambique for export.According to Zandberg, initial talks were to link the Copperbelt to either the Beira or Nacala ports in Mozambique via Zimbabwe. “The feasibility study was to have been concluded within six months, but due to Covid-19 this timeline has had to change. Consultants are simply not able to travel at the moment, but that does not mean work has stopped. In fact, discussions have been ongoing and it is now more likely that the railway line will link the DRC and Zambia to the new port set to be constructed in Mozambique at Macuse.”Zandberg said this would not only shorten the route, but also give access to a deeper port.At least 5 million tons of mining commodities will have to be moved on the line per year to ensure profitability, but according to Zandberg this is an easy enough goal to achieve considering that at present mines in the Copperbelt region are exporting far from capacity due to the lack of rail infrastructure.“We estimate only about 20 to 30% of capacity is being exported because of the reliance on road. The bulk of commodities out of the DRC and Zambia are moving on trucks and it is expensive. The sooner we can link the DRC and Zambia by rail the better.”Zandberg said it was not only the export of copper and coal that was being discussed, but the region also had some 500 million tons of iron ore that could be mined and exported.“The existing rail infrastructure is not in optimum condition and needs to be either upgraded, uplifted or rebuilt. We are looking at the latter, introducing a wider gauge rail,” he said. “This will allow us to up the volume significantly as we can run 32 tons per axle trains. In fact, it would increase the volume by at least 75% compared to what is currently being moved by truck.”According to Zandberg long-term investors are already involved and they are currently in the process of finding short-term investors.“We have also commissioned an engineering study to look at the various bridges on the route to determine where and what upgrades are required. Most importantly, we need to know if the bridges can handle the axle loads we want to run.”He said the company remained in talks with the governments who understood that Covid-19 had delayed the process. “We are all still very optimistic and plans are to have this railway line operating within the next four years.”He said another important aspect of the feasibility study was to determine where to build the new railway line. “The idea at present is to build it 25m parallel to the existing line so as to cause as little disruption to communities as possible.
