Railways in

Zimbabwe

EMD built class DE10A locomotive No.1027 of National Railways of Zimbabwe
heads a passenger train arriving at Victoria Falls from Bulawayo.

The first railway in present day Zimbabwe was the Bechuanaland Railway, which reached Bulawayo from the border of Bechuanaland (present day Botswana) in 1897. This was built to the 3ft 6in (1067mm) gauge advocated by Cecil Rhodes and in general use in British controlled southern Africa. This gauge was used for the majority of subsequent rail development in the country, one short lived exception being the 2 ft (610mm) gauge Beira Railway, which reached Umtali (now Mutare) from the Portuguese port of Beira in 1898. The same year, the 3ft 6in (1067mm) gauge Mashonaland Railway reached Umtali from Salisbury (now Harare) and it was decided to regauge the Beira line, the change being completed in 1900.

In 1999, a new private freight railway was opened, the Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway, considerably shortening the distance between the industrial and mining centres of South Africa and those of Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwe network has international connections for freight with South Africa, Moçambique, Botswana and Zambia. Apart from a local tourist service and various long distance luxury cruise trains crossing the Victoria Falls bridge, the only regular international passenger service is jointly operated with Botswana Railways and runs 3 times per week between Bulawayo and Francistown, Botswana.

• National Railways of Zimbabwe the national network, including commuter and tourist passenger services and freight haulage
• Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway private freight line
• Rovos Rail luxury cruise train
• Shongololo Express luxury cruise train
• Bushtracks Express steam hauled luxury dining train crossing the Victoria Falls bridge from Victoria Falls station
• Zambezi Tram lower cost alternative means of crossing the Victoria Falls bridge by train from Victoria Falls station