History of rail transport in Namibia

After the independence of Namibia, TransNamib took control of the national rail network, which, by that time, had long since been converted to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge.

As it was necessary to react quickly to the now extremely precarious transport situation, decisions were made: Train services on the whole of the new line, which was called the Staatsbahn (State Railway), began on 19 June 1902.

As the diamond mining was always moving further south, the northern part of the line as far as Pomona was abandoned in 1931, and some of its materials were used for the extension of the railway towards Oranjemund.

The industrial railway no longer exists today; the lifting of the line was carried out by bulldozers and trucks.

With the outbreak of World War I, the German Schutztruppe military unit retreated from the coast, and withdrew into the inland.

Under South African/British occupation, the following lines were established (listed by first year of full operation):[3] From August 1915 the Namibian railway network was operated de facto by South African Railways, and this arrangement became official in 1922.