THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has temporarily suspended operations on the South-East railway line due to the track damage caused by incessant rainfall.
The railway wash away by the rains was witnessed particularly along the Rutenga-Mbizi and Rutenga-Beitbridge sections.
In a statement, NRZ said its realigning the damaged area, which covers 480 metres combined and is now at 90% complete.
“We are experiencing wash aways on some parts of our lines, particularly on the South-East line. The heavy rainfall has resulted in the water flow overloading existing drainage structures.
“Areas that have been adversely affected include the Rutenga-Mbizi section where 360 metres of tracks were washed away and also a section along the Rutenga-Beitbridge line where 120 metres of tracks were washed away, with gullies reaching two metres in some areas,” NRZ said.
It noted that the area experienced wash aways but due to climate change, high rainfall has since made the unexpected severe damage to the rails.
“The area is susceptible to such incidents because of its natural topographic formation. Although we have previously had similar experiences in the same corridor over the past few years, including on the Mozambican side, this has been worse than any wash away we have seen before.”
The NRZ confirmed that there were dispatched wagons carrying ballast and quarry fines from the Nalatale Quarry Mine in Shangani en route to the affected areas.
Fortunately, there have been no injuries reported among staff or damage to rolling stock due to the washouts.
