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Botswana Railways
Historic Rhodesia Railway car at the National Museum in Gaborone, Botswana
On 27 February 2009, an announcement was made of the termination of all Botswana Railways passenger services.[2] However, passenger trains run by National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) continue to run from Bulawayo to Lobatse via Plumtree, Francistown and Gaborone.[3]
As of October 2010, BR was building a large shopping mall near Gaborone station, and expressed hopes that passenger services might resume, although BR could not give any concrete details.[4]
In December 2014 Botswana Railways announced that they will purchase new passenger cars and locomotives and that passenger services would resume in late 2015.[5] A passenger service between Gaborone and Lobatse, marketed under the name BR Express, eventually began operation in March 2016.[6]
8 General Electric UM 22C diesel-electric locomotives, 1982
20 General Motors Model GT22LC-2 diesel electric locomotives, 1986
10 General Electric U15C diesel electric locomotives, 1990
8 General Motors Model (GT42AC) diesel electric, 2017
Purchase of passenger cars and locomotives
In December 2014 Botswana Railways announced that they would purchase three generator vans, five first class sleepers, 18 economy class coaches, five business class coaches, three buffet cars and a luggage van.[5]
BR Express operates a commuter train system between Lobatse and Gaborone. The train departs from Lobatse at 05:30 and arrives at Gaborone in 06:49. The train returns to Lobatse in the evening, departing from Gaborone at 18:00 and arriving at Lobatse at 19:34.[citation needed]
There is no direct connection with Namibia, but one does exist via South Africa, although an electrified railway connecting to Lüderitz in Namibia for coal traffic was scheduled to open in 2006.[citation needed]
In August 2010, Mozambique and Botswana signed a memorandum of understanding to develop an 1100 km railway through Zimbabwe, to carry coal from Serule in Botswana to a deep-water port at Techobanine Point in Mozambique.[7]
A new rail link between Botswana and Zambia, bypassing Zimbabwe, was mooted in 2005 by Botswana Railways (BR) general manager Andrew Lunga. The line was envisaged as running south-westwards from Livingstone, crossing the Zambezi, then continuing to a junction with the existing BR tracks at Mosetse. Lunga's proposal arose following the serious loss of traffic suffered by BR following the opening of the Beitbridge-Bulawayo line, after which annual BR freight tonnage fell from 1.1m per annum to about 150,000. Zimbabwe's economic problems had worsened the situation, prejudicing free traffic flow. The suggested line, Lunga pointed out, would provide important alternative routes linking South Africa, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.[8]
![BR Express from [[Gaborone]] to [[Francistown]], [[Botswana]]](File:BR_Express_2.jpg)
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