mbulelo smpofu
Raymond Jaravaza, raymondjaravaza@gmail.com
THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has announced plans to dispose of 422 scrap wagons and some decades-old passenger coaches in Bulawayo, Harare and other locations across the country.
The disposal process will include various metals such as copper, steel, cast iron and aluminium, which will be sold through a tender system advertised in the media this week.
NRZ public relations manager, Mr Andrew Kunambura, said 51 decommissioned passenger coaches that were burnt to shells in a raging fire that razed part of the Bulawayo mechanical workshop will not be part of the scrap to be auctioned.
“We are not disposing of any of the decommissioned coaches that were burnt in September 2024. The reason why the NRZ is disposing of some of the old wagons and coaches as scrap is because the property has outlived its life span and can no longer be used commercially,” he said.
“The value of the old wagons and coaches is now only in scrap form.”
Mr Kunambura said the parastatal does not dispose of any of its property that is still commercially usable.
In September, a fire broke out at the NRZ’s Bulawayo mechanical workshop and destroyed 51 decommissioned passenger coaches.
The decommissioned passenger coaches were reduced to shells in a suspected veld fire, which took the Bulawayo Fire Brigade over four hours to extinguish.
Part of the property that will be sold as scrap metal by NRZ includes 346 scrap wagons stationed in various locations around the country.
In Bulawayo and Harare, 76 scrap coaches and cabooses will be disposed of. At the Bulawayo mechanical workshop, 244 tonnes of ungraded steel will be sold while five LPG tankers in Zvishavane, Kadoma, Chegutu, Norton and Harare are set to be auctioned.
About 309 tonnes of graded steel will be sold in Bulawayo while 27 wagons will be sold in Dabuka, Gweru.
The NRZ also plans to get rid of 1,58 tonnes of copper from its Bulawayo main stores depot while property such as coach generators and coach rotors from the Bulawayo mechanical workshop will be sold in addition to aluminium weighing three tonnes and two tonnes of cast iron from the same site will be disposed of.
