Botswana Railways eyes overhaul amidst crippled operations

Friday, January 16, 2026 | 470 Views |

Plans afoot: Botswana Railways has a new chair and CEO tasked with overseeing the turnaround PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE

Botswana Railways (BR) has unveiled plans for a major overhaul of operations, after revealing that only 12% of its current wagon fleet is operational while just 26% of its locomotives are in service.

In a candid update to stakeholders this week, the rail utility said due to the challenges, freight tonnage is reported to stand at 521,000 tonnes against a period target of 935,000 tonnes and operational costs continue to exceed income generation, resulting in persistent monthly deficits.

BR is also struggling with an increasingly aged creditor book, which further affects cashflows.

Already have an active account? Log in here.

Or Sign up and get unlimited access to premium articles.

botswana railways

Where is the reward? Moagi questions state's P4.7 million corruption case

Larona Makhaiza | 5 h ago

High loan costs force Batswana to shelve borrowing

Timothy Lewanika | 1d ago

Debswana, Boteti District Council boost food security

staff writer | 1d ago

Selefu

joey kambai | 7 h ago

Xpress Batteries expands beyond South Africa with first Botswana store

correspondent | 7 h ago

Lands Ministry accused of defying Boko's Bonno project

Larona Makhaiza | 1d ago

Gov't, unions deadlocked on per diem talks

Mbongeni Mguni | 1d ago

Court rejects bid to jail gov't officials for contempt

Innocent Selatlhwa | 1d ago

Public servants deserve better than union infighting

‘The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds’.- Abraham LincolnUntil then, the Council’s operations remain suspended, delaying critical decisions affecting thousands of public sector employees.The current standoff is between the Manual Workers Union on one side and the Six Cooperating Trade Unions, namely BONU, BOPEU, BTU, BDU, BOSETU and...

Mmegi Editor | 31 July 2026

About us

Mmegi is the leading independent source of breaking news, latest news, current
affairs, Politics, Business, Sport, debates, analysis, and entertainment news in Botswana.