| Northern railway eases pressure on roads |
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| Written by Staff Reporters | |
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The newly constructed railway line to the northern parts of the country has eased pressure on the road network as some cargo, which used to be transported by trucks, is now being moved by train.
According to information released in Parliament last week by the
Ministry of Works and Transport, the road between Tsumeb and Ondangwa
is no longer as busy as it was before the completion of the railway
extension.
The figures released by the transport ministry shows that the volume of cargo transported by road has also decreased dramatically. The figures indicated that TransNamib Road Transport moved 16 466 tonnes of cargo from April 2005 to March 2006 by road before the commissioning of the railway. But these volume were reduced to only 7 015 tonnes from April 2006 to March 2007 as a result of the railway. The ministry said, during the period between April 2007 and March 2008, the cargo volumes transported by road were again reduced to 1 750 tonnes, with private sector companies and individuals who previously used road transport now turning to the train. The first phase of the railway extension programme, linking Tsumeb to Ondangwa, cost N$858 million. The government contributed N$503 million, the African Development Bank N$202 million, the Kuwait Fund For Arab Economic Development N$102 million and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa N$50 million. The second phase of construction – linking Ondangwa to Oshikango – began in September 2006 and is expected to cost N$146 million. |
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