Southern Africa's rail network was built primarily to transport mining output from inland mines to coastal ports, and at its peak in the 1970s and 1980s it was one of the world's most extensive narrow-gauge networks. Decades of underinvestment, deteriorating track, and aging rolling stock have eroded its competitiveness against road transport. South Africa's Transnet Freight Rail, by far the network's largest operator, carried only 154 million tonnes in 2022/23, down from over 220 million tonnes five years earlier, due to a combination of cable theft, locomotive failures, and operational mismanagement. The freight loss has migrated to road, increasing truck traffic on already-deteriorating roads.
Reform and Private Sector Entry
South Africa's government has approved a framework for private sector access to Transnet rail infrastructure, allowing third-party operators to run trains on the national network for the first time. If implemented effectively, this could attract private capital to rehabilitate specific corridors, particularly the coal line from Mpumalanga mines to Richards Bay. Zambia's TAZARA line, connecting Zambia to Tanzania's Dar es Salaam through a 1,860-kilometre corridor, is being rehabilitated with Chinese financing under a new management concession. Rail logistics operators and mining companies can access Southern Africa rail contacts on intra-africa.com.
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