28 Jan 2016

Transport and communications minister, Mr Tshenolo Mabeo is promising Batswana a state-of-the-art south/north bound passenger train by the end of March this year.

Speaking during a tour of the ongoing refurbishment of the Gaborone train station on Wednesday, Mr Mabeo said the set date would remain unless something beyond his ministry’s control happens.

He said the P280 million project was expected to run within budget and completed on time, adding that though it was not easy for him to unpack the whole budget for the purchasing of coaches and all associated works, the bulk of it would go towards the purchasing of train coaches while the rest would be used for the refurbishment of six train stations.

The minister said the passenger train was expected to have been delivered in December, but that it did not materialise due to delays in the tendering process.

He said the arrival of the passenger train after seven years of its non-existence came at the right time to minimise congestion on the A1 highway and reduce the high rate of road accidents.

Mr Mabeo said the passenger train would be running daily between Francistown and Gaborone.

Regarding the refurbishment of train stations, Mr Mabeo said they were focusing on six stations being Gaborone, Francistown, Palapye, Lobatse, Serule and Mahalapye.

For his part, the chief executive officer of Botswana Railways, Mr Dominic Ntwaagae said the project was on schedule and expressed hope that it would meet the expected delivery time.

He said the passenger train was modern and that it would need modern technology hence the refurbishment of the stations to allow the insertion of modern public address systems and the ticketing system.  Ends