Namibia Upgrading Southern Railway Line to Cater for South African Manganese
Namibia is upgrading the Sandverhaar – Bucholzbrunn railway line in the south of the country in order to attract more bulk commodities such as manganese from South Africa for export via the port of Lüderitz.
This project entails upgrading the 40km railway section between Sandverhaar and Bucholzbrunn from the current carrying capacity of 16 ton/axle to 18.5 ton/axle. The project also involves redesign of curves to improve speed and improved drainage structures since the section lies in a flood prone valley.
The Government of Namibia has prioritised railway rehabilitation and consequently appointed TransNamib as the main contractor and Roads Contractor Company (RCC) as the subcontractor.
“This is an 18-month contract and is anticipated to end in September 2024,” said Gilbert Boois, projects manager at the Walvis Bay Corridor Group. The Walvis Bay Corridor Group focuses on increasing cargo volumes for Namibian sea ports by neighbouring countries via Namibian transport corridors.
Sandverhaar – Bucholzbrunn railway line forms part of the Trans-Oranje Corridor. The Corridor comprises a tarred road and railway line linking the Port of Lüderitz to the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.
Boois said the upgrades are required because the railway line became depilated and due to speed and weight limits, negatively affecting cross-border trade between Namibia and South Africa.
The Namibian Ports Authority said in the 2022 annual report that as the manganese price improved, the Port of Lüderitz saw a significant increase in manganese ore exports from South African mines. During the last two financial years, the Port of Lüderitz has handled 640,288 tonnes and 768,085 tonnes respectively, ramping up from initial exports in the 2020 financial year.
The export volumes are expected to remain strong this year, further supported by the recently awarded Common User Manganese Export Terminal and the soon to-be-launched offshore loading solution.
Boois said the Walvis Bay Corridor Group’s Road and Working Rail Group (WG) recently held a meeting that discussed the upgrade of the Sandverhaar – Bucholzbrunn railway line along the Trans-Oranje Corridor, as well as the Kranzberg to Otjiwarongo railway line and the Trans-Zambezi railway line along the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor (WBNLDC).
The working group was activated in October 2021, as part of the implementation structure of Namibia’s Logistics Hub Master Plan. The plan aims to make Namibia an international logistics hub for southern African countries.
Bulk cargo in Namibia is mostly transported by road with railway catering for about 15 percent.
Boois said the country needs to prioritise investment in critical railway sections, and enable TransNamib to acquire the necessary rolling stock to meet customer demand.
He also wants the government to speed up railway sector reform, which will result in the establishment of a railway regulator and a dedicated railway funding agency.
Boois said the WG serves as a platform to bring together key public and private sector stakeholders from the road and rail sectors.
He said the objective of the working group is to prioritise the development of road and rail infrastructure in Namibia as outlined in the logistics hub master plan; identify the priority road and rail sections for construction, rehabilitation and maintenance and identify and discuss the need for railway rolling stock and facilities.
The Walvis Bay Corridor Group said that for the 2022/23 financial year, corridor cargo increased by 50% year-on-year, climbing from 1 639 510 tonnes to 2 464 123 tonnes. The volumes are for the ports of Walvis Bay and Lüderitz, going to and coming from the target markets of Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.