The rail system was built in the early 1900’s (part of it represents a segment of the Cape-Cairo railway) and has not been revamped since. As a result of 100 years of use, a number of sections are deteriorating with the track cracking and the foundations sagging. Lack of maintenance has led to faulty points resulting in numerous derailments.  The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) employed 17,000 staff in the late 1980’s, but today only 4-6000 employees are on hand. Vandalism has paralyzed the communications systems and only shunting is possible with the electric locomotives in urban areas – two-way radios are used to facilitate train movements between towns. The geographical spread of the network makes it almost impossible to adequately protect and guard. Four million running tons is possible with the current capacity but this is yet to be proven.

The NRZ is the parastatal railway of Zimbabwe. NRZ operates about 3,000 km of rail at the 1.067 m gauge providing passenger and freight services. NRZ has an important transit function in the southern part of Africa and is well linked with neighbouring countries: toward the north, at Victoria Falls, the system links to the Zambia Railways, crossing the Victoria Falls Bridge. Towards the Indian Ocean, the system links to the Beira Railroad Corporation in Mozambique. A second line towards Mozambique reaches Maputo. To the west, a connecting line link ups to Botswana Railways to reach South Africa, eventually reaching Durban and Cape Town. A direct line to South Africa is provided from Bulawayo by the Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway. The electrified (25kV AC) 313 km Gweru-Harare section has been seriously vandalized and the electric trains have since stopped operating.

The rail sector in Zimbabwe is in dire need of recapitalisation as the wagons, locomotives, tracks and signalling systems are all antiquated and in need of replacement. The NRZ has also suffered of the general decline of the country's economy. Neglect of maintenance, lacking spare parts and overdue replacement of equipment have led to a situation where only part of the railroad net is in good condition and equipment problems have led to reduced service. Goods transport has declined, from 4 million tonnes in 2015 to 2.5 million tonnes in 2018.

The NRZ network is divided in three operational regions:

• Eastern Region: Mutare – Harare - Chinhoyi axis, with a branch line to Bindura/ Shamva
• Midlands Region: Somabhula – Harare with branch line to Masvingo and Redcliff
• Southern Region: Beitbridge – Rutenga – Dabuka and Chicualacuala – Rutenga; Dabuka – Mpopoma – Victoria Falls

For contact information, please see the following links:  4.1 Zimbabwe Government Contact List

For more information on the Zimbabwe railway network, please see the following attachment: Additional Zimbabwe Railway Information

Travel Time Matrix

Capacity Table

Key Route Information

Key Stations