Shippers claim they will resist using the new line, which is longer THE NATIONAL Railways of Zimbabwe has claimed that it stands to lose millions of rand from the construction of a new railway line between Bulawayo and Beit Bridge.
The 200km line, costing R300 million, is being largely paid for by South African financial groups. A senior NRZ official said this week: The agreement is heavily biased in favour of Spoornet which will be allowed to take over total control of operations, including the provision of locomotives, wagons and crews. In a revelation that has taken the shipping and forwarding sector by surprise, the NRZ says that it will lose at least R30 million a year in revenue as the new line will take most of the traffic on the existing route between Dabuka (just outside Gweru in the midlands) and Beit Bridge. The implication is that the existing link has become run down and inefficient.
This has sent shippers into a spin, saying that there is no way they will reroute their cargoes down the new line, due to be finished by May next year, as it is much longer.
No official comment can be obtained, and the confusion highlights the murkiness of the new project, with most industry observers saying the reason for the new link is part of some grand, strategic plan by South Africa to extend and strengthen links with central African countries.
As the NRZ notes: Already Spoornet has total control of the network in the Republic of Congo and Namibia and is taking control of Mozambique. By Martin Rushmere
