The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has commissioned three refurbished locomotives and 100 high-sided wagons under a public-private partnership (PPP) with Zimasco, as the government continues efforts to recapitalise the state railway operator.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Hon. Adv. Felix T. Mhona, officiated at the commissioning ceremony at Harare Station on 17 September 2026.
Under the partnership, Zimasco funded the procurement of critical spare parts and consumables required for the refurbishment. The locomotives and wagons will be dedicated to transporting the company’s mineral commodities, providing NRZ with additional rolling-stock capacity to meet the freight requirements of one of its major customers.
The commissioning forms part of wider efforts to restore Zimbabwe’s railway freight capacity through infrastructure rehabilitation, rolling-stock investment and private-sector participation.
At the September commissioning ceremony, Mhona encouraged companies in the mining, agricultural and fuel sectors to pursue similar partnerships with NRZ. He indicated that the government remained open to private-sector participation in the refurbishment, leasing and procurement of locomotives, wagons and railway infrastructure.
The NRZ–Zimasco partnership provides a separate example of customer-funded rolling-stock rehabilitation, with the refurbished equipment allocated to the transport of Zimasco’s mineral commodities.
