Zambia-Zimbabwe railway proposed

10 May 2021

In the past few days, Zambia’s Ministry of Transport and Communications announced that it proposed the construction of the Kafue-lion’s den railway line, which will go from the Neganega area to the lion’s den in Zimbabwe.

“The Kafue-Chirundu railway line lies in Lusaka and Southern provinces, traversing over four districts namely Kafue, Mazabuka, Chikankata and Chirundu districts before crossing into neighbouring Zimbabwe,” team engineering company lead consultant Brian Nkandu said. 

The railway from Zambia to Zimbabwe is set to be 304km long with Zambia covering 95 kilometres from Kafue to Chirundu. Moreover, Nkandu noted that a single gauge dimension was chosen as it fits both Zambia and Zimbabwe’s existing railway designs. The single gauge will be of 1600 millimetres. 

“The railway line will cross the Zambezi River into Zimbabwe terminating at lion’s den town where it will be linked to railways systems of Zimbabwe to port of Beira in Mozambique,” Nkandu added.

Furthermore, Jordan Zimba, Ministry of Transport and Communications Inspector of railways joined in to say that this railway will have a viable and increased outcome for Chirundu. “There is no railway project in Zambia that can be compared to the Kafue-lion’s den railway,” he said. “This should motivate you to support the construction of the Kafue Chirundu railway line as it comes with huge benefits.”

Zimba conveyed that the construction of the railway will also generate contracts or temporal jobs, offering more employment possibilities.