NRZ looks to double freight capacity to 6 million tonnes

THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is targeting to double its freight volumes from the current three million tonnes per annum to six million within four years, buoyed by the recapitalisation deal which is yet to be finalised.

NRZ general manager Lewis Mukwada told delegates attending the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries annual congress in Bulawayo on Thursday that they were projecting to double their capacity within four years from now.

"In terms of capacity, our projections are that we should be able to double our capacity from the current three million to six million within three to four years and we should be able to achieve the profitability again within that period of time in terms of the programme that we are following," Mukwada said in his brief address.

So far in the first seven months of the year, the parastatal has moved 1,772 million tonnes of freight, an 11% increase from the same period last year.

NRZ is currently waiting for the finalisation of its $400 million recapitalisation deal with Transnet Consortium and Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group.

Initially, the deal was expected to be completed by end of June this year.

The project will involve the rehabilitation and renewal of plant, equipment, rolling stock, signalling and telecommunications infrastructure and the supporting information technology systems.

Under the deal, repairing and rehabilitation of infrastructure and equipment such as locomotives, wagons and coaches, as well as phased modernisation of the train control system, was also a top priority.

The rail parastatal is targeting to move four million tonnes of freight in 2018, up 25% from last year's on the back of service level agreements signed with key customers.