Sea Rail Botswana plans to move more cargo from road to rail following the development of a dry port in Gobabis in Namibia.The dry port, situated just over 100km from the border at Mamuno, will play a significant role in the development of rail solutions between Namibia and Botswana on the Trans-Kalahari corridor.According to Derick Mokgatle, acting managing director of Sea Rail Botswana, moving more cargo to rail will reduce cost.“It will cut the distance on road for cargo on the corridor to and from Walvis Bay, ultimately reducing transport costs,” he told Freight News.There has been a slow uptake of rail solutions in Southern Africa over the past few years, with most countries still reliant on road transport.Mokgatle said this was due to a lack of connectivity to reach some of the destinations regionally.“A rail linkage from Botswana to Namibia would significantly grow traffic on the trans-Kalahari corridor.”Developments at the Walvis Bay Dry Port were ongoing, said Mokgatle, indicating that the company had recently commissioned a reefer station with 48 plug points.“This has enabled us to handle and store perishable cargo in our bonded facility. Currently we are constructing a 3000-square-metre storage shed within the dry port. This will allow us to handle high-value commodities like copper or other cargo that require under-roof storage.”Mokgatle said the storage shed was expected to be completed by no later than October this year taking into account delays related to lockdowns.