Botswana Railways

Botswana Railways (BR) was established in 1987 when the government of Botswana bought out the Botswana-based sections of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ). NRZ had been initially operating the rail system after Botswana had gained independence.

Management of the BR is supported by RITES Ltd. of India.

The opening of the Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway in Zimbabwe in 1999 resulted in a major drop in the volume of freight transit and income. As a response the BR has been considering the construction of a direct line to Zambia (Zambia Railways), bypassing Zimbabwe, to regain income from transit.

On 27 February 2009, an announcement was made of the termination of all Botswana Railways passenger services. However, passenger trains operated by National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) continued to run from Bulawayo to Lobatse via Plumtree, Francistown and Gaborone.

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.

In December 2014 Botswana Railways announced that it would purchase new passenger cars and locomotives and that passenger services would resume in late 2015. A passenger service between Gaborone and Lobatse, marketed under the name BR Express, eventually began operation in March 2016.

Network

The Botswana Railways system consists of 888 kilometres (552 mi) of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Cape gauge track. The main line runs through the south-eastern region of Botswana from Mahikeng in South Africa through Lobatse, Gaborone, Mahalapye, Palapye and Francistown to Plumtree in Zimbabwe. In addition there are three branch lines: from Palapye to Morupule Colliery, from Serule to Selebi-Phikwe, and from Francistown to Sowa.

Main Line - 640 km

Francistown to Sua Pan (branch line) - 174.5 km

Palapye to Morupule Colliery (branch line) - 16 km