Cabinet Moves To Privatise Railway Industry

The cabinet has in pricinple approved legislation to repeal and replace the Railways Act of 1984 and open up the railway transport sector to private companies. 

In a statement issued to the media, Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya said the creation of open-access rules and regulations would allow private sector companies to play a more active role in managing Zambia’s railways, provided they do not exceed the design capacity of the railway itself. 

“This decision of Cabinet might even allow companies such as those in the mining sector to run railway companies of their own operations,” she added.

Under the current system, the management of railways is largely financed by the treasury, with the state required to pay for infrastructure, supplies and repairs. 

Ms Siliya said that increased use of Zambia’s road network for the transportation of goods and services had massively increased the cost of maintenance and that improvements to the railway network - through private investment - would help alleviate some of this strain.