The Maseru branch line is a railway line that connects

Maseru Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, Maseru lies directly on the Lesotho–South Africa border. Maseru had a population of 330,760 in the 2016 census. T ...

, the capital of Lesotho, to the railway network of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Overview

It branches from the

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

–

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

line at Marseilles, Free State, and runs in a south-easterly direction for to the Caledon River. After crossing the river, which serves as the border with Lesotho, the line runs for through an industrial area of Maseru, serving the city's station and various factories and depots. The line is owned by

Transnet Freight Rail Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...

of South Africa; it has freight service but no regular passenger trains. Construction on the Bloemfontein–Bethlehem railway line, intended to link the

Orange River Colony The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after Britain first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Unio ...

(as it was then known) with the port of

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, began in 1902 under the direction of the

Central South African Railways The Central South African Railways (CSAR) was from 1902 to 1910 the operator of public railways in the Transvaal Colony and Orange River Colony in what is now South Africa. During the Anglo-Boer War, as British forces moved into the territory of ...

. By June 1904 it was open from Bloemfontein as far as

Modderpoort Modderpoort, also known as ''Lekhalong la Bo Tau'' or ‘The Pass of the Lions’, is the site in the eastern Free State, South Africa, where the Anglican Missionary Brotherhood, the Brotherhood of St Augustine of Hippo, was established by Bish ...

. In order to make the line viable, it was desired that it should serve Maseru, but for the sake of economy it was decided to build the main line along a shorter route and connect Maseru by a branch line. The line from Marseilles to Maseru, including a new bridge over the Caledon River, was opened on 18 December 1905.

References

* {{cite book , first=J.N.C , last=Boonzaaier , title=Tracks Across the Veld , year=2008 , isbn=978-0-620-41711-2 , page=245 Railway lines in South Africa Rail transport in Lesotho 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in South Africa

Overview

See also

References