NRZ to reintroduce steam locomotives

NRZ to reintroduce steam locomotives

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By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE is to go back to using steam locomotives to boost its ageing fleet of diesel trains and attract tourists, it was announced Wednesday.

The country is suffering from acute shortages of foreign currency needed to import fuel and spares, but most of the spares for the steam trains can be found locally, the report said. Zimbabwe also has abundant coal supplies.

“We intend to use them (steam locomotives) to boost our own operations and as a tourist attraction through this special steam safari trains that we also expect to generate foreign currency for the country,” Fanuel Masikati, the public relations manager of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) said.

It will cost around two billion Zimbabwe dollars (US$77 000) to refurbish 10 steam engines, some of which date back to the 1950s. The NRZ plans to have five engines in use by the end of the year, and another five by the end of 2006.

Zimbabwe phased out its fleet of steam locomotives and replaced them with diesel ones more than a decade ago, but a critical fuel shortage is now making coal-fired engines an attractive option.

It was not immediately clear what state other facilities needed to run a fleet of steam engines, such as coal-loading machines, are in. Railway enthusiasts will welcome the move to reintroduce steam trains. They say that many of the water installations along Zimbabwe’s railway lines are still intact. – Sapa-dpa
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