TransNamib train delayed for three hours

TRANSNAMIB sent another locomotive to pull a train that had come to a standstill for close to three hours outside Windhoek on Friday, due to an overheated engine.

The train was coming from Keetmanshoop to Windhoek, and was filled with passengers, mostly schoolchildren coming back from their school break. The rail parastatal’s spokesperson, Ailly Hangula-Paulino, confirmed this on Friday, adding that the incident was out of their control and blaming the delay on ageing locomotives.

She said the water leakages caused the engine to overheat, and the driver was thus forced to stop the train between Bergland and Leutwein outside Windhoek.

The train, carrying two passenger coaches and 20 wagons, left Keetmanshoop late on Thursday evening, and arrived late on Friday afternoon at 12h53.

“The driver had no choice but to shut down the locomotive to protect it from overheating further and cause permanent damage to the engine. An assisting locomotive was sent from Windhoek to pull in the train from the Bergland station to Windhoek,” she explained.

When asked what TransNamib is doing to keep these delays from happening in the future, Hangula-Paulino said they have taken several mitigation steps to limit the impact on customers “and our employees’ work environment by intensifying preventative maintenance.

The incident was unfortunate, and this is something we do not have control over sometimes”.

She said TransNamib, however, remains dedicated to using all resources available to keep the ageing 50-year-old locomotives running.

“We regret the inconvenience caused by the delay of the departure and arrival of the train. We would like our passengers to have a relaxed, uninterrupted travel experience. We operate very old and aged equipment which unfortunately presents unexpected situations beyond our control,” Hangula-Paulino reiterated.

recently reported on how the TransNamib board has been pressuring works deputy minister Sankwasa James Sankwasa into approving the renovation of locomotives by a Malaysian company.

had back in 2017 quoted TransNamib’s then acting chief executive officer Hippy Tjivikua as saying the entity needed 80 new locomotives. At the time, they had 97 locomotives, of which 52 were operational, and some over 52 years old.

TransNamib had also purchased Chinese locomotives for N$42 million, and sold them back in 2014 after they were deemed unsafe.

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