The history of rail transport in Lesotho began in 1905, when the landlocked nation of Lesotho was connected with the railway network of South Africa. The two nations have remained connected by a single railway line ever since.

Beginnings

In 1902, 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 ...

began construction of 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 ...

railway, which was 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 ...

. To make the line viable, it was desired that it should serve

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, 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 from Marseilles to Maseru, including a new bridge over the Caledon River ( st, Mohokare). The new Maseru branch line was completed in October 1905 and opened on 18 December 1905. Within Lesotho, it was long, from the Caledon River / ''Mohokare'' border bridge to the station at Maseru. Initially, both passenger and freight rail services were operated. Lesotho has few natural resources and relies heavily on large-scale export of labour to South Africa. The opening of the railway facilitated that traffic. Previously, most Lesotho men engaged in migrant labour had walked from Lesotho to South African mines. According to one source, the new railway "... proved a great boon to the community." However, another source claims that the construction of the railway and the demobilization of the auxiliary corps in South Africa were perceived by Lesotho's

Basotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

people as an attempt to place Lesotho under the South African colonies.

More recent operations

In 1963, passenger service on the railway was suspended. Five years later, it was resumed. During the 1970s, there was a substantial increase in wages at the mines, and this led to a growth in border passenger traffic, as workers were able to afford to come home more frequently. However, by that time road travel had become the preferred method of cross-border transport. In 1985, passenger rail service was suspended for a second time, and there has been no regular passenger service since 1989. Freight trains have continued to run on the railway, carrying mainly cement, maize, fuel and freight containers. As of 2011, there were two freight trains every day, making up about one third of Lesotho’s international trade in bulk goods. Rail freight infrastructure in Lesotho included a container handling facility and a bulk grain handling facility in the Maseru industrial sites. These facilities were owned by the government and leased to the South African rail company,

Spoornet 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 ...

, which was the railway's operator.

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Rail Transport In Lesotho Lesotho

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