TransNamib Holdings Limited, commonly referred to as TransNamib, is a state-owned railway company in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. Organised as a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

, it provides both rail and road freight services, as well as

passenger rail Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

services. Its headquarters are in the country’s capital

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

History

A first local railway was constructed in 1895 by the Damaraland Guano Company for commercial purposes. The first public railway, and the core of the present system, was constructed by the German colonial government. The 383 km connection between

Swakopmund Swakopmund (german: Mouth of the Swakop) is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers ...

and

was inaugurated on June 19, 1902. The German colonial railway was taken over by the Railways of South Africa after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and linked into the network of

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

. After the independence of Namibia, TransNamib took control of the national rail network.

Operations

TransNamib operated 2,883 km of rail in 1995. Since then, further track has been added to the network through the Northern Extension. It operates on

Cape gauge A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

. While focus has been primarily on freight services, passenger services are an important component of TransNamib and provided under the Starline logo. The “Desert Express” is a tourist train to link Windhoek and

. In early 2011, the

Karasburg Karasburg ( naq, ǀNomsoros, old name af, Kalkfontein, literally "carst spring") is a town of 4,000 inhabitants in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia and the district capital of the Karasburg electoral constituency. It lies at the heart of ...

Ariamsvlei Ariamsvlei is a settlement of about 500 people in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia and a small border post between Namibia and South Africa, located east of Karasburg on the national road B3. It lies at 804 metres (2641 ft) above sea ...

mainline was damaged by

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

s, as was part of the

Seeheim Seeheim is a settlement in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. The only notable structures in Seeheim today are the hotel and the railway station; only a handful of people live there. Seeheim belongs to the Keetmanshoop Rural electoral const ...

Lüderitz Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. The town is known for its colonial architecture, includi ...

line; services were suspended.

Major lines and stations

*Windhoek-Tsumeb/Walvis Bay ** Windhoek Railway Station **

Okahandja Okahandja is a city of 24,100 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the ''Garden Town of Namibia''. It is located 70 km north of Windhoek on the ...

Karibib , nickname = , settlement_type = Town , motto = , image_skyline =Karibib aerial view.jpg , imagesize =300 , image_caption =Karibib aerial view 2017 , image_flag = , ...

***

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The c ...

** Omaruru **

Otjiwarongo Otjiwarongo ( hz, beautiful place) is a city of 28,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Otjiwarongo electoral constituency and also the capital of Otjozondjupa. Otjiwarongo is situated in cen ...

Tsumeb , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German language, German for ''Good luck'') , image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption ...

*Northern Extension:Update 2006 re Northern extension
/ref> **Tsumeb **

Ondangwa Ondangwa (earlier spelling ''Ondangua'') is a town in the Oshana Region of northern Namibia, bordering the Oshikoto Region. Ondangwa was first established as a mission station of the Finnish Missionary Society (the FMS) in 1890. In 1914, it became ...

(completed 2006) **

Oshikango Oshikango is a former village in northern Namibia and since 2004 part of the town of Helao Nafidi, although it still maintained its own village council for a number of years. ''Oshikango'' is still the name of the border post with Angola and the ...

(under construction, with future link to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

) *Winhoek-Gobabis **Windhoek ** Neudamm **

Omitara Omitara is a settlement in the Steinhausen electoral constituency in the Omaheke Region of Namibia. Together with the adjacent village of Otjivero — the two places are often referred to as one — it had a population of approximately 1,200 as ...

Gobabis , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = Ex Oriente Lux , image_skyline = Gobabis Namibia aerial.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imag ...

*Windhoek-Upington **Windhoek ** Rehoboth ** Mariental ***

Maltahöhe Maltahöhe is a village in southern central Namibia close to the Swartrand escarpment, about 110 km west of Mariental in the Hardap Region. It has about 6,000 inhabitants and owns about 17,000 hectares of land. Maltahöhe has two suburbs, th ...

** Gibeon **

Asab Asab ( Nama: ''new thing'') is a settlement in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It is situated on the B1 national road about halfway between Mariental and Keetmanshoop. east of Asab is the Mukurob rock pinnacle, a tourist attraction t ...

Tses Tses is a village in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia with a population of approximately 1000; probably 1000 more live in the surrounding semi-desert farming hinterland. It is situated one kilometre off the main B1 highway from Windhoek t ...

Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop is a city in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia, lying on the Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Upington in South Africa. It is named after Johann Keetman, a German industrialist and benefactor of the city. History Befo ...

***

Upington Upington ( Nama: //Khara hais) is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of ...

, South Africa

References

External links

Official siteDesert Express
{{Authority control Railway companies of Namibia Windhoek 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Namibia

History

Operations

Major lines and stations

See also

References

External links