Zambian Railways' ambitious strategy

Zambian Railways has
revealed ambitious plans
to develop from just a bulk
carrier to a full logistics
provider.
According to its CEO
Christopher Musonda,
plans are already in place
to develop railway facilities
in Livingstone, Lusaka,
Chipata, Kitwe, Chingola,
Ndola, Bwana Mkubwa and
Chililabombwe through
public private partnerships.
“The railway sector
is the economic engine
in the development of a
country,” he said. “Growth
of economies correlates
positively with the
growth of the railways.
India, China and several
European countries have
achieved economic growth
thanks to investment in the
railway sector.”
He said with this in
mind the ZRL was set to
diversify its role in the
Zambian economy, having
been set up primarily
to carry heavy freight –
especially mining raw
materials and products.
ZRL operates a total
track length of around
1248km of long single line
at present. The mainline
runs from the Vic Falls
Bridge to Kitwe while
several branch lines
complement the offering.
The company has a total
f leet of 40 locomotives and
2094 wagons.
“We are not a very big
railway but what makes
our offering significant
is the interlinkages that
we have with the whole
SADC region. We connect
Tanzania, Zimbabwe,
Malawi, Angola, South
Africa and Mozambique.”
He said over the past few
years a lot of rail-friendly
cargo had been lost to
road and it was time to
start taking this back.
And it was important to
move from the traditional
railway approach of being
only a bulk commodity
transporter to that of a
complete logistics service
provider, he added.
“To achieve this in
Zambia we want to
develop integrated
intermodal terminals
or gateways across the
country providing a
variety of facilities from
customs and weighbridges
to warehousing and
consolidation.”
He said the development
was aimed at creating a
better product for rail
users.
“Customers are not
interested in what each and
every entity is doing. They
want to know the total cost
of moving the copper from
the plant in Zambia to the
final destination in China.
We need to work together
across the region to start
delivering these solutions
to our customers.”