Rail transport in Lesotho

Rail transport in Lesotho is characterized by a small length of the route. The Kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa has only a 2.6 km long connecting the capital Maseru on the route network in South Africa.

History

The route Marseille - Maseru was built by the South African Railways as a branch line of the railway line Bloemfontein - Bethlehem and opened in October 1905. As most of the South African railway network was built in Cape gauge. Until about 1985 persons took place on the track, usually with steam traction. Since then, the route is used only for freight. It is used to connect some industrial enterprises in Maseru as the Lesotho Flour Mills, which has its own locomotive. The operation is carried out by the South African Transnet Freight Rail.

Projects

Line extensions as a continuous connection of Maseru 's second most important industrial center of the country, Maputsoe were being discussed, but never got beyond this stage. A link would be technically complicated, since the area has large gradients due to its sandstone formations.

A rail connection Lesotho to the South African ports of Durban and Port Elizabeth is in the planning stage.