Botswana Railways has plans to introduce a tourist train from Francistown through to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Livingstone, Zambia and then back into Botswana to Kasane. The Director of Business Development of Botswana Railways, Stephen Makuke, unveiled the plans at the Francistown Investment Forum last week.
Makuke said the train is expected to boost local and international tourism in the region. It would be a full-service train similar to South Africa’s Shosholoza Meyl, serving meals and drinks, he said.
Besides boosting tourism, the train is expected to bring in funds for the cash-strapped Botswana Railways, Makuke was quoted as saying in the Botswana Sunday Standard. Other plans to increase revenue and boost tourism in Francistown include a shopping mall to the value of P350m (R419m) and another tourist train called ‘City of Francistown on Wheels’.
However, tour operators have questioned the train’s viability. Onne Vegter, Director Wild Wing Safaris, doubts the project will find much demand among international travellers. He says: “What would travellers do in Francistown and how would they get there?”
Vegter says a train from Gaborone to Maun would be more popular. “Generally international clients are fly-in clients, and need to reach a local hub like Maun, from where they can be transferred to their lodge. So it would make more sense to provide a train route from Gaborone to Maun, in order to perhaps connect with flights to and from Gaborone, as flight options to and from Maun are limited.”
Vegter also suggested a tourist train line connecting to Pretoria. “If a tourist line can connect all the way to Pretoria so that Rovos Rail and other tourism rail companies can offer an extension all the way to Maun, that would make more sense to me.”
