Rail transport in Lesotho

Last updated
Maseru station Maseru station.JPG
Maseru station
Diesel engine with goods wagon of Lesotho Flour Mills at Maseru station Flour Mills Zug.jpg
Diesel engine with goods wagon of Lesotho Flour Mills at Maseru station

The nation of Lesotho has a single railway station, located in the capital city Maseru. It is the terminus of the Maseru branch line, which connects to the railway network of South Africa.

Lesotho kingdom in southern Africa

Lesotho, officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is an enclaved country within the border of South Africa. It is one of only three independent states completely surrounded by the territory of another country. Lesotho is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million. Its capital and largest city is Maseru.

Maseru Place in Lesotho

Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, Maseru lies directly on the Lesotho-South Africa border. Maseru is Lesotho's capital city with a population of 330,760 in the 2016 census. The city was established as a police camp and assigned as the capital after the country became a British protectorate in 1869. When the country achieved independence in 1966, Maseru retained its status as capital. The name of the city is a Sesotho word meaning "red sandstones".

Maseru branch line

The Maseru branch line is a 26-kilometre (16 mi) railway line that connects Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, to the railway network of South Africa.

Contents

Overview

The length of the line within Lesotho, from the border bridge over the Mohokare River to the station, is 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi). It opened on 18 December 1905. [1] The distance by rail from Maseru to the main line at Bloemfontein is 137 kilometres (85 mi).

Bloemfontein Place in Free State, South Africa

Bloemfontein is the capital city of the province of Free State of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals and is the seventh largest city in South Africa. Situated at an altitude of 1,395 m (4,577 ft) above sea level, the city is home to approximately 520,000 residents and forms part of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality which has a population of 747,431.

As of 2008, there have been talks of building new railways to connect Lesotho to Durban and Port Elizabeth. [2]

Durban Place in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Durban is the third most populous city in South Africa—after Johannesburg and Cape Town—and the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. Located on the east coast of South Africa, Durban is famous for being the busiest port in the country. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism because of the city's warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches. Durban forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes neighboring towns and has a population of about 3.44 million, making the combined municipality one of the biggest cities on the Indian Ocean coast of the African continent. It is also the second most important manufacturing hub in South Africa after Johannesburg. In 2015, Durban was recognised as one of the New7Wonders Cities. The city was heavily hit by flooding over 4 days from 18 April 2019, leading to 70 deaths and R650 000 000 in damage.

See also

History of rail transport in Lesotho

The history of rail transport in Lesotho began in 1905, when the landlocked nation of Lesotho was connected with the railway network of South Africa. The two nations have remained connected by a single railway line ever since.

This article concerns systems of transport in Lesotho. As a landlocked country, Lesotho has no seaports or harbours, but does have road, air transport, and limited rail infrastructure.

Rail transport in South Africa

Rail transport in South Africa is an important element of the country's transport infrastructure. All major cities are connected by rail, and South Africa's railway system is the most highly developed in Africa. The South African rail industry is publicly owned.

Related Research Articles

Geography of Lesotho

Lesotho is a mountainous, landlocked country located in Southern Africa. It is an enclave, surrounded by South Africa. The total length of the country's borders is 909 kilometres (565 mi). Lesotho covers an area of around 30,355 square kilometres (11,720 sq mi), of which a negligible percentage is covered with water.

Transport in Tanzania includes road, rail, air and maritime networks. The road network is 86,472 kilometres (53,731 mi) long, of which 12,786 kilometres (7,945 mi) is classified as trunk road and 21,105 kilometres (13,114 mi) as regional road. The rail network consists of 3,682 kilometres (2,288 mi) of track. Commuter rail service is in Dar es Salaam only. There are 28 airports, with Julius Nyerere International being the largest and the busiest. Ferries connect Mainland Tanzania with the islands of Zanzibar. Several other ferries are active on the countries' rivers and lakes.

Maseru District District in Lesotho

Maseru is a district of Lesotho. Maseru is also the name of the district's capital, and is the only city in the district and also the capital of the country. It is the largest urban area in the country, and therefore the only city. The city of Maseru is located on Lesotho's western border with the Free State Province of South Africa, the frontier being the Caledon River. Maseru borders on Berea District in north, Thaba-Tseka District in the east, Mohale's Hoek District in south, and Mafeteng District in southwest.

Budapest Metro rapid transport system of Budapest, Hungary

The Budapest Metro is the rapid transit system in the Hungarian capital Budapest. It is the oldest electrified underground railway system on the European continent, and the third-oldest electrically operated underground railway in the world, predated by the 1890 City & South London Railway and the Liverpool Overhead Railway in 1893-96. Its iconic Line 1 was completed in 1896.

Transnet Freight Rail railway operator in South Africa

Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people for decades from the first half of the 20th century and was widely referred to by the initials SAR&H. Customer complaints about serious problems with Transnet Freight Rail's service were reported in 2010. Its head office is in Inyanda House in Parktown, Johannesburg.

Rail transport in Tanzania

Rail transport in Tanzania is conducted by two companies. It has historically used narrow gauge trackage, but planning and construction of new standard gauge lines is underway as of 2017.

Asker Line railway line

The Asker Line is a 9.5-kilometre (5.9 mi) railway line between Asker and Lysaker in Norway. The line runs along the same corridor as the Drammen Line, offering increased capacity, speed and regularity on the rail network west of Oslo. The first part opened in 2005, and in 2011 an extension opened from Sandvika to Lysaker. An extension to Skøyen in Oslo will perhaps be built after 2020. Most of the railway is in tunnel and is dimensioned for 160 km/h (99 mph) running. The entire railway is electrified at 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC. The first section cost 3.7 billion kr, while the second is budgeted at NOK 2.7 billion.

Eswatini Railways (ESR), formerly known as Swaziland Railway or Swazi Rail, is the national railway corporation of Eswatini.

Rail transport in Estonia

The rail transport system in Estonia consists of about 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) of railway lines, of which 900 kilometres (560 mi) are currently in public use. The infrastructure of the railway network is mostly owned by the state and is regulated and surveyed by the Estonian Technical Surveillance Authority.

Rail transport in Azerbaijan

Rail transport in Azerbaijan is operated by the national state-owned railway company Azerbaijan Railways. The railway network consists of 2,918 km (1,813 mi), its gauge is 1,520 mm, 815 km (506 mi) are double track and 1,272 km (790 mi) are electrified at 3 kV (3,000 V) DC.

Bitterfontein Place in Western Cape, South Africa

Bitterfontein is a village in the Knersvlakte, the northernmost area of the Western Cape province of South Africa, 320 kilometres (200 mi) north of Cape Town. It is the railhead of a line from Cape Town; ore from the copper mines at Okiep is transferred there from road transport to the railway. It is also located on the N7 national road; the distance from Cape Town is 386 kilometres (240 mi) by road and 465 kilometres (289 mi) by rail.

Rail transport in Namibia

Rail service in Namibia is provided by TransNamib. Namibia's rail network consists of 2,382 route-km of tracks, however this number continues to increase as the rail infrastructure continues to grow.

Rail transport in South Sudan

Rail transport in South Sudan does not have an extensive rail system and current rail infrastructure, which was constructed between 1959–1962, and what has been left over from the previous Sudan government is in a serious state of disrepair. It consists of a 248 kilometers (154 mi) narrow-gauge, single-track line that connect Babonosa with the city of Wau in South Sudan. The line was left in poor condition after the Second Sudanese Civil War after several parts of it were mined; the line was fully rehabilitated with United Nations funds.

The Bankura–Masagram line is a broad-gauge rail line connecting Bankura and Masagram. The 116-kilometre long (72 mi) railway line operates in Bankura and Purba Bardhaman districts in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Hubli Junction railway station

Hubli Junction railway station is a railway junction station under Hubli railway division of South Western Railway zone (SWR) of Indian Railways situated in Hubli, Karnataka, India.

References

  1. Boonzaaier, J.N.C (2008). Tracks Across the Veld. p. 245. ISBN   978-0-620-41711-2.
  2. Radebe, Jeff (20 November 2007). Keynote address at the African Union Rail conference (Speech). Johannesburg. Retrieved 14 October 2010.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Rail transport in Lesotho at Wikimedia Commons