01 Feb 2016

The Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Tshenolo Mabeo has urged contractors responsible for the maintenance and upgrading of the Francistown Railway Station to work hard and to deliver the project on time.

Speaking during a tour of the station recently,  he urged management to conduct routine inspections in order to ensure that contractors perform their duties and do not abandon projects as it would affect the date set for the project to be delivered.

He said the train’s arrival would boost the economy of the country as well as help ease the transport challenges that have haunted the country during holidays.

Mr Mabeo said contractors have to make progress on staff offices, the terminal point and the waiting room, which would accommodate people while waiting to board the train.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of Botswana Railways, Mr Dominic Ntwaagae said they were  working on temporary measures which include the public address system and the waiting room.

Mr Ntwaagae noted that the railway line was in a good condition and has been inspected, adding that it was only waiting for the train to arrive and make Batswana lives easy.

He further said they would introduce a night train, but hope to introduce the day train. He added that they would be able to provide a day train only during holidays.

The CEO noted that the new train would be comfortable to customers as there would be no standing allowed on the train. He added that before boarding the train, one would have to buy a ticket and said the train would have three classes, the standard class, business class and first class.

He said the train would provide efficiency to customers and that they should not be worried about their security and that of their property as there would be security in the train to safeguard the well-being of people and their belongings.

In addition, Mr Ntwaagae said in the future they may introduce commuter trains, adding that the long anticipated train would only make a stop in Lobatse, Gaborone, Mahalapye, Palapye, Serule and Francistown.

He said the move to reduce the number of railway stations where the train could stop was to cut down the hours the train takes travelling in order to make it more convenient. Ends