This article needs to be updated.(October 2020) |
Seeheim railway station is a railway station serving the settlement of Seeheim in southern Namibia. [1] It is part of the TransNamib Railway, and is located along the line that leads from Windhoek southwards.
At Seeheim the railway splits; one line continues to Upington, connecting Namibia with South Africa, the other one once led to Lüderitz. The passenger line to Lüderitz has been defunct for many years because the rails were destroyed between Aus and Lüderitz. [2] This missing section is currently being rebuilt. Until its estimated finish in 2010, the few irregular passenger trains to the West end in Aus.
Seeheim was founded in 1896 as a base for the German Schutztruppe. Early in the 20th century its sole purpose was that of a junction station where the lines from Keetmanshoop diverted to Lüderitz and Karasburg. The line Keetmanshoop-Lüderitz was built from 1905 to 1908, the line Keetmanshoop-Karasburg in 1909. [3] The First World War was the reason to build these railway links through inhospitable land. Soon however, transport demand peaked due to the diamond rush that developed after a railway worker picked up a diamond near Grasplatz station, 24 kilometers east of Lüderitz. People travelling from the inland to Lüderitz had to stay overnight at Seeheim junction. This was the reason for the erection of two hotels, one of which is again in operation today after standing empty for 30 years. [4]
This article deals with the system of transport in Namibia, both public and private.
Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island.
The ǁKharas Region is the southernmost, largest, and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the region reflects the prominence of the Karas mountain range in its southern part. The ǁKharas region contains the municipality of Keetmanshoop, the towns Karasburg, Lüderitz and Oranjemund, and the self-governed villages Aroab, Berseba, Bethanie, Koës and Tses.
Karasburg is a town with 4,000 inhabitants in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia and the district capital of the Karasburg electoral constituency. It lies at the heart of the southern Namibian sheep farming industry.
Botswana Railways (BR) is the national railway of Botswana.
TransNamib Holdings Limited, commonly referred to as TransNamib, is a state-owned railway company in Namibia. Organised as a holding company, it provides both rail and road freight services, as well as passenger rail services. Its headquarters are in the country’s capital Windhoek.
Railway stations in Angola include:
Woodhall Spa railway station was a station in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire on a small branch line running north from Woodhall Junction to Horncastle. Both the station and the line are now closed.
Aus is a settlement in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on a railway line and the B4 national road, 230 km west of Keetmanshoop and about 125 km east of Lüderitz and belongs to the ǃNamiǂNûs electoral constituency. Trains from Keetmanshoop now end their journey at the village but formerly continued on to Lüderitz. The settlement is small but has a number of amenities including a hotel, police station, shop and garage. It is located in the Aus Mountains above the plains of the Namib Desert. The climate is usually hot and arid but snow has been recorded in the winter of 1963, and the area features the coldest winters recorded in Namibia.
Seeheim is a settlement in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. The only notable structures in Seeheim today are the hotel and the railway station; only a handful of people live there. Seeheim belongs to the Keetmanshoop Rural electoral constituency.
Windhoek railway station is a railway station serving the city of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is an important station in the Namibian rail network, and it is run by TransNamib.
The B1 is a national highway of Namibia, and is the country's longest and most significant road, running the length of the country from south to north. It connects Noordoewer in the south on the South African border with Oshikango in the north on the Angolan border via Namibia's capital city Windhoek.
Keetmanshoop railway station is a railway station serving the town of Keetmanshoop in Namibia. It was erected in 1908. when the territory was colonised by Imperial Germany. It is part of the TransNamib Railway, and is located along the Windhoek to Upington line that was inaugurated in 1915 and connects Namibia with South Africa. Keetmanshoop also has a junction to Seeheim and Aus, completed in 1908.
Lüderitz railway station is a railway station serving the town of Lüderitz in Namibia. It was erected in 1904.
Grasplatz is a defunct railway station in the south of Namibia on the currently decommissioned Aus–Lüderitz line. It is the place where in 1908 railway worker Zacharias Lewala found the first diamond in German South-West Africa and handed it over to his foreman August Stauch. Stauch's subsequent investigation triggered a diamond rush.
The rail service in Namibia is provided by TransNamib. The Namibian rail network consists of 2,687 km of tracks (2017).
The history of rail transport in Namibia began with a small mining rail line at Cape Cross in 1895. The first major railway project was started in 1897 when the German Colonial Authority built the 600 mm gauge Staatsbahn from Swakopmund to Windhoek. By 1902 the line was completed.
The South West African 2-8-0T of 1907 was a steam locomotive from the German South West Africa era.
The Swakopmund–Windhoek line was a main 600 mm narrow-gauge railway line in Namibia. It was built in 1897 and operated until 1990 when the route name was changed.
The Keetmanshoop Reformed Church is a congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) in southern Namibia, headquartered in the town of Keetmanshoop but also embracing members from the towns of Aroab, Aus, Bethanie, Koës, Lüderitz, and Rosh Pinah. Since the congregation is paired with the Mariental Reformed Church, where the Rev. Johan Dunn is the current pastor since 2017, it also serves members from Mariental, Kalkrand, Maltahöhe, Stampriet, and Gochas. The collective Keetmanshoop-Mariental area is enormous, almost the size of the United Kingdom. The distance between Lüderitz and Stampriet is 500 km, and the even the distance between the two congregational seats, Keetmanshoop and Mariental, is 230 km.