THE upgrading of the railway line between Tsumeb and Otavi to Southern African Development Community (SADC) standards, has been completed by D&M Rail Construction company.
The government has funded the N$320 million, 40 km railway line since June 2017.
Project manager Leon Steyn explained to Nampa on Tuesday that SADC requires railway lines to be built with rails at 48 kg which have a wider and thicker top compared to the 30kg.
He said, during upgrading, the 30kg rails which limited trains to a top speed of 40km per hour were replaced with the new required 48kg rails which will enable trains to reach a high speed of 100 km/h with comfort.
The 48kg rails, he added, were purchased in 2016 from Austria by the government at a cost of N$100 million.
“We reused some old rail materials to rehabilitate some portions, and we also replaced the iron sleepers with the concrete sleepers,” he noted.
The Tsumeb-Otavi railway line was last upgraded in 1958 with 30kg rails, and with these 48kgs, the railway line is expected to last for the next 100 years, Steyn said.
D&M Rail construction site agent, Wilbard Nashima expressed satisfaction with the work done on the railway line.
“I am impressed with a job well done as we also eliminated all the railway line joints by welding the two sections of rails together to SADC standards,” he said.
Nashima further said that the rehabilitation and upgrading work on the railway lines between Krantzberg, Kalkfeld, Otjiwarongo and Otavi, which started in 2013, had also been completed.
The Krantzberg-Tsumeb railway line is known for transporting, fuel, ballast stones, sulphuric acid and copper amongst others from Dundee Precious Metals at Tsumeb to the Walvis Bay harbour.
D&M Rail in 2013 was subcontracted by the government through TransNamib to rehabilitate and upgrade a total of 391 km railway lines from Krantzberg, Kalkfeld, Otjiwarongo, Otavi and Tsumeb. Additionally, D&M Rail replaced 4 000 iron e-clips and fishplates valued at N$150 000 on the recently rehabilitated railway line between Tsumeb and Otavi.
Steyn told Nampa the replacements were done during February and March on the already operational railway line, south of Otavi in the Otjozondjupa region.
He explained that the e-clips and fishplates connect adjacent rails in a railway track and removing them might cause a derailment once a train loaded with goods passes over a loose rail.
“This is especially concerning as trains transport goods like fuel, ballast stones, sulphuric acid and copper, amongst others,” he noted.
Steyn, therefore, called on community members at Otavi and Tsumeb to be on the lookout for people who sell materials used on the tracks and to report them to the nearest police station or the D&M Rail offices.
He also urged scrap yards to refuse to buy these parts and to report those trying to sell such to the police. – Nampa
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