THE highway between Beitbridge and Masvingo will be
temporarily closed today to allow for repairs on the railway line following an
accident likely to cost Beitbridge-Bulawayo Railway (BBR) millions of dollars
in repairs.
A detour for buses and smaller cars has been created
following the inevitable closure of Zimbabwe’s mainland artery between Pretoria
and Harare.
Haulage truck drivers have been asked either to delay or
use the Zvishavane or Bulawayo routes, almost an extra 800km to Harare
In a public notice yesterday, the Transport and
Infrastructural Development ministry said the road would be closed from 7am to
3pm at the level crossing 5km from the
Beitbridge border post where the massive accident occurred.
No lives were lost and only one BBR crew member sustained
minor injuries in the accident seven days ago.
A goods train travelling from Bulawayo to South Africa
derailed at the level crossing last Sunday afternoon after colliding with a
haulage truck, which was racing to beat the train in crossing. The road was
blocked for 16 hours.
Work to clear the road passage was concluded on Monday, but
the railway line remained blocked after the line and locomotives were
extensively damaged.
Work to clear the line started yesterday after huge cranes
were brought in from Harare, making the level crossing resemble a
mini-industrial area.
BBR chief executive Thembi Moyo, could not immediately
provide the quantum of the damages although experts said it could run into
millions.
“Work on lifting the wreckage from the site of Sunday’s
collision between a South Africa-bound goods train and a haulage vehicle near
Beitbridge is in progress. Heavy lifting began on Friday after we secured
heavy-duty cranes from Harare,” Moyo said.
Two locomotives and six loaded wagons were to be lifted and
open space for line repairs, she said.
Moyo was not sure when the line, which was built to create
the shortest rail route between Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and
Zimbabwe with South African ports, would be ready for use.
“It will only be possible to make an informed guess about
how long it will take to reopen the line once the wreckage has been lifted off
it. This was a major accident, which has caused damage not only to the derailed
locomotives and wagons, but to about 160 metres of railway track,” she said in
an interview.
“As the accident occurred at a level crossing, it will be
necessary to close the road for about eight hours to reconstruct the section of
uprooted railway line that crosses the road.
“BBR is working with the relevant authorities in connection
with the notices and permits that are needed for a road closure. In the
meantime, work will continue on the rest of the damaged railway track.”
She said assessors from BBR and the customer whose cargo
was damaged were still working out the damage to rolling stock and to the
cargo, some of which could only be done once the damaged rolling stock had been
lifted.
“It is too early, therefore, to be able to quantify the
costs the accident has caused. There is also the business lost due to the
closure of the line to factor in,” Moyo said.
Two locomotives, the caboose, six wagons and the containers
in the wagons were damaged in the accident.
“BBR would like to appeal to all road users to exercise
extreme caution at level crossings in order to ensure there is no train
approaching before driving across it.
“If there is an approaching train, it is always safest to
wait for the train to pass before proceeding across the level crossing,” Moyo
said.
An independent railway consultant said damages in
Beitbridge could easily run into millions of dollars.
“Bringing those cranes here alone runs into hundreds of
thousands and the amount of man hours there does not come cheap,” said a
railway accidents expert, speaking on conditions of anonymity. Standard
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