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Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) requires about US$1 billion to carry out a full rehabilitation of its infrastructure in the country.
This is according to Transport and Logistics Minister, Frank Tayali.
The minister said the long-term rehabilitation of the ZRL line is estimated to take a period of four years from commencement.
Tayali told Parliament on Wednesday in Lusaka that the scope of works for the major rehabilitation will include complete track and civil rehabilitation works and purchase of brand-new rolling stock and equipment.
He said other works will include refurbishment of workshops and ancillary equipment, procurement and installation of the signaling and telecoms system and capacity building/training.
“Plans to undertake the major rehabilitation of the ZRL line have commenced and to this effect, in 2021 a contract was signed with a possible Contractor (Team Sweden Rail) and Phase 1 of the Contract which includes Final Track Assessment has reached 86 percent,” Tayali said.
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He said government was exploring ways of funding Phase 2 of the project which includes the complete rehabilitation of the infrastructure among other components however, financial close has not been reached.
Tayali said the full rehabilitation of ZRL line will, therefore, commence as soon as funding is secured. However, due to the poor state of the railway line, government has been implementing stop-gap measures to ensure continued provision of the service.
“Government has continued to release funds to facilitate the maintenance of critical sections/ structures,” he said.
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