History of rail transport in Zambia: Difference between revisions
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The British South Africa Company (BSAC) was responsible for building the Rhodesian railway system in the period of primary construction which ended in 1911, when the main line through Northern Rhodesia reached the Congo border and the Katanga copper mines. Railway construction in British South Africa Company-administered [[Northern Rhodesia]] (now Zambia) was undertaken by [[Rhodesian Railways]], established in 1899, as an extension of the system in Southern Rhodesia. Railway development was driven by [[Cecil Rhodes]], whose original intention was for a railway extending across the Zambesi to Lake Tanganyika, popularly considered as part of a great [[Cape-Cairo railway]] linking all the British colonies of Africa. However, Rhodes was as much a capitalist in his motivation as a visionary, and when little gold was found in Mashonaland in Southern Rhodesia, he accepted that the scheme to reach Lake Tanganyika had no economic justification. Railways built by private companies without government subsidies need enough of the type of traffic that can pay high freight rates to recover their construction costs. The agricultural products that fueled much of Rhodesia's early economic growth could not provide this traffic; large quantities of minerals could. Most early railways in Africa were built by the British government rather than Chartered Companies. The need to raise capital and produce dividends prevented most Chartered Companies from undertaking such infrastructure investments. However, in the early period of railway construction, BSAC obtained finance from South African companies including Consolidated Gold Fields and De Beers in which Rhodes was a dominant force. BSAC also benefited from the personal fortunes of Rhodes before his death.<ref>J Lunn, (1992). The Political Economy of Primary Railway Construction in the Rhodesias, 1890-1911, pp. 239, 244.</ref><ref name="S Katzenellenbogen, 1974 pp. 63-4">S Katzenellenbogen, (1974). Zambia and Rhodesia: Prisoners of the Past: A Note on the History of Railway Politics in Central Africa, pp. 63-4.</ref> | The British South Africa Company (BSAC) was responsible for building the Rhodesian railway system in the period of primary construction which ended in 1911, when the main line through Northern Rhodesia reached the Congo border and the Katanga copper mines. Railway construction in British South Africa Company-administered [[Northern Rhodesia]] (now Zambia) was undertaken by [[Rhodesian Railways]], established in 1899, as an extension of the system in Southern Rhodesia. Railway development was driven by [[Cecil Rhodes]], whose original intention was for a railway extending across the Zambesi to Lake Tanganyika, popularly considered as part of a great [[Cape-Cairo railway]] linking all the British colonies of Africa. However, Rhodes was as much a capitalist in his motivation as a visionary, and when little gold was found in Mashonaland in Southern Rhodesia, he accepted that the scheme to reach Lake Tanganyika had no economic justification. Railways built by private companies without government subsidies need enough of the type of traffic that can pay high freight rates to recover their construction costs. The agricultural products that fueled much of Rhodesia's early economic growth could not provide this traffic; large quantities of minerals could. Most early railways in Africa were built by the British government rather than Chartered Companies. The need to raise capital and produce dividends prevented most Chartered Companies from undertaking such infrastructure investments. However, in the early period of railway construction, BSAC obtained finance from South African companies including Consolidated Gold Fields and De Beers in which Rhodes was a dominant force. BSAC also benefited from the personal fortunes of Rhodes before his death.<ref>J Lunn, (1992). The Political Economy of Primary Railway Construction in the Rhodesias, 1890-1911, pp. 239, 244.</ref><ref name="S Katzenellenbogen, 1974 pp. 63-4">S Katzenellenbogen, (1974). Zambia and Rhodesia: Prisoners of the Past: A Note on the History of Railway Politics in Central Africa, pp. 63-4.</ref> | ||
The railway reached Bulawayo in 1897, and was extended to the Victoria Falls in 1902. Lines were built in | The railway reached Bulawayo in 1897, and was extended to the Victoria Falls in 1902. Lines were built in 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm). The railway arrived in the future Zambia early in 1905, when the 150 km (93 mi) long Livingstone–Kalomo line was built in advance of completion in September of that year of the [[Victoria Falls Bridge]] from the then Southern Rhodesia to [[Livingstone]]. The first wagons on the line were hauled by oxen, then a single locomotive was conveyed in pieces by cableway across the gorge where the bridge was being built to start up operations to Kalomo in advance of the main line connection.<ref>[http://www.nrzam.org.uk/Railway/Rail.html ''Horizon'' magazine: "Zambia's Second Industry", February 1965, pp4-11.]</ref> | ||
The next section was to Broken Hill, (now [[Kabwe]]), which the railway reached in 1906. BSAC was assured that there would be much traffic from its lead and zinc mines, but this did not materialize because technical mining problems. The railway could not meet the costs of the construction loans, and the company faced major financial problems. The only area likely to generate sufficient mineral traffic to relieve these debts was Katanga. Another major bridge was required to cross the [[Kafue River]] and the {{convert|427|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} long [[Kafue Railway Bridge]], the longest on the Rhodesian Railways or Zambian Railways network, was completed in 1906. Initially, the Congo Free State had concluded that Katanga's copper deposits were not rich enough to justify the capital cost of building a railway to the coast, but expeditions between 1899 and 1901 proved their value. Copper deposits found in Northern Rhodesia before the First World War proved uneconomic to develop.<ref name="S Katzenellenbogen, 1974 pp. 63-4"/> | The next section was to Broken Hill, (now [[Kabwe]]), which the railway reached in 1906. BSAC was assured that there would be much traffic from its lead and zinc mines, but this did not materialize because technical mining problems. The railway could not meet the costs of the construction loans, and the company faced major financial problems. The only area likely to generate sufficient mineral traffic to relieve these debts was Katanga. Another major bridge was required to cross the [[Kafue River]] and the {{convert|427|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} long [[Kafue Railway Bridge]], the longest on the Rhodesian Railways or Zambian Railways network, was completed in 1906. Initially, the Congo Free State had concluded that Katanga's copper deposits were not rich enough to justify the capital cost of building a railway to the coast, but expeditions between 1899 and 1901 proved their value. Copper deposits found in Northern Rhodesia before the First World War proved uneconomic to develop.<ref name="S Katzenellenbogen, 1974 pp. 63-4"/> | ||
