The project was conceived in 2010 with the commissioning of the feasibility study and bilateral agreement signed in 2014. The project is however reported to be on hold, waiting for funding from private shareholders, while the two countres will be playing a facilitating role and meet all the development costs of the project. Out of three options identified by the pre-feasibility study, the two countries decided on a route aligned to the Trans-Kalahari Corridor, apparently to minimise costs. According to this alignment, the Trans-Kalahari Railway Line will cover 1,500 kilometres from Mamabula coalfields to Walvis Bay. It will connect to the railway line down to Rasesa, passing through Molepolole, Kang and Morwamosu to join the Trans-Kalahari Corridor through Mamuno border, Gobabis and Windhoek to Walvis Bay as the final destination.
Unfortunately, this mega project is tied to coal which is a pollutant product from the environmental point of view. Coal has a bleak future as its current market price has tumbled to $65 per ton from $114 per ton in 2010. When the two countries signed the bilateral agreement in 2014, coal price was $78 per ton. Granted, the project has a positive long term outlook, but its relationship with coal will obscure its long term benefit for the landlocked Southern African countries.
