On March 1, 1905 the small Ayrshire Gold Mine & Lomangundi Railway Company — which had been founded in 1900 — merged with MRC.

A similar event would occur with the Beira & Mashonaland Railway (also founded in 1900), which merged on October 1, 1927 with the MRC.

[3] The route from Plumtree to Mafeking, crossing Bechuanaland (which was under concession to the RR), was sold to South African Railways in December 1959.

[7] In 1997, the deregulation of the transport industry took place, removing the monopoly of the sector held by NRZ,[7] a fact that led the company to enter into deep decline and accumulate increasing losses.

Steam locomotives have been reintroduced since 2004 as coal is in relatively good supply, while diesel must be imported and electricity shortages are common.

[9] In 2019, it was reported that train drivers were resorting to using WhatsApp messages to communicate, due to the unreliability of signalling and control systems.

[10] By 2009, the 313 kilometres (194 mi) electrified section between Harare and Gweru/Dabuka was inoperable due to years of maintenance neglect and theft of overhead line equipment.

The winner of the process was the Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG), a consortium of Zimbabwean and South African companies.

[10] In 2021, commuter rail service in Harare was started in cooperation with ZUPCO, the local bus company, operating three routes to Tynwald, Mufakose and Ruwa.

NRZ cites the age and state of repair of passenger carriages, as well as speed restrictions on some sections of track as the reason for the continued suspension, although are looking to reintroduce services at some point in the future.

[14] NRZ operates about 4,225 km (2,600 miles) of railway lines, all 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge, providing freight services.

A small number of tourist trains are operated from Victoria Falls station, including a luxury long-distance service to Pretoria, South Africa by Rovos Rail.

Victoria Falls – Bulawayo section Bulawayo – Plumtree section In 1911 Rhodesia Railways was granted a special agreement to preserve its rights of access under the Tati Concessions Land Act, which formally annexed a former territory of Matabeleland, an area including Francistown, to the Bechuanaland Protectorate.