“A melancholy, long, withdrawing ro ar” - Railways in the Economy of

The meeting on the bridge was literally an act of railway diplomacy; it was also a reminder of a vital economic link that had existed for decades, and that the railway was perhaps the most important element in the diplomacy of the region. [...] The application is based on the extraction and analysis of over 29 million documents.”18 In the same month Transnet announced that the Chinese company CRRC, the main contracted supplier of locomotives, was “unwilling to engage with the relevant authorities in South Africa to normalise its operations in the country”. [...] And according to the American Journal of Transportation, “the railway may compete with a new one that the United States is helping Zambia to build, that will connect the Copper Belt with the existing line running to the Angolan port of Lobito”.49 ZIMBABWE The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is wholly owned by the Government of Zimbabwe and is in effect a state department – perhaps the most old. [...] The new line will link up with the port of Lobito, providing “the shortest route linking key mining regions in these two countries to the sea”.61 MOZAMBIQUE Mozambique Ports and Railways (CFM) is a state-owned Company “with the responsibility to operate in the transport industry, the Ports and Railways Sector.”62 However, the private sector has been involved since the early 1990s in managing certa. [...] As the World Bank’s Richard Bullock has pointed out, “the lower that road tariffs are (and the greater the degree of overloading permitted), the lower the freight rates for both road and rail will be and the less funds will be available from a concessionaire to maintain and upgrade the railway whilst at the same time the greater the damage to the road system”.67 Bullock also notes that “the perfor.