Zambia Railways Rehabilitation Project
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
Project Information
Zambia Railways Limited ( ZRL ) is proposing to undertake a full rehabilitation of the main railway line between Livingstone and the Copperbelt (approximately 945 km - see map). The Project, supported by the Industrial Development Corporation of Zambia ( IDC ), will consist of rehabilitation of tracks; provision of new locomotives and wagons; signalling upgrades and training / capacity building.
The Project aims, amongst other things, to improve Zambia’s competitiveness and access to international markets for export by increasing the average train speeds and freight carrying capacity. Following rehabilitation, the railway is expected to be more attractive than road for the transportation of freight. This is expected to stimulate economic development at local and national levels; shift freight off the national road network; improve the general Environmental, Health and Safety performance of the railway; improve energy efficiency; improve air quality; and reduce noise impacts.
Rehabilitation works (which will take approximately 4 years) shall be undertaken to minimise track disruption to the extent possible with track closures limited to 24 hours. The rehabilitation is expected to include:
- Replacement of some areas of track;
- Replacement of sleepers;
- Laying of ballast on different sections of the track as required and replacement of turnouts;
- Construction of level crossings at specified locations;
- Improvement of bridges and culvert areas;
- Construction of sleeper factory and sleeper stocking area;
- Construction of workers camps; and
- Construction of material stocking areas for the project.
Supporting infrastructure includes, access roads, quarries and mobile construction camps.
The proposed project will also improve ZRL capacity by providing the following rolling stock:
- Diesel Electric Locomotives;
- Covered Wagons;
- High Sided Wagons;
- Drop Sided Wagons;
- Container Wagons; and
- Tank Wagons.
The project also includes the installation of a state-of- the-art ERTMS Level 2 system by using radio communication between Computer Based Interlocking (“CBI”) and the trackside objects as well as between the Radio Block Centre (“RBC”) and the train borne signalling system.
Register and Comment
Please register as a stakeholder using the button below to recieve updates and further information (only register once).
Should you wish to comment please click on the "Comment Here" button (comments can be made anonymously). Your comments will be incorporated into the ESIA process, considered by the project team and feedback provided in the draft and final ESIA documents and a Frequently Asked Questions list to be prepared (you can comment as many times as you would like).
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
IDC have appointed international consulting firm SLR and Zambian consulting firm, Armitage Environmental and Social Consulting (Zambia) Limited to carry out an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of the project. The ESIA is being funded by Swedfund International ( Swedfund ) and is to be undertaken to International Standards. The purpose of the ESIA is to evaluate the potential social, physical and biological positive and negative impacts of the Project, and propose mitigation measures to avoid, reduce, rehabilitate, compensate and/or offset negative impacts and enhance positive benefits of the project. The ESIA process began in 2021, with the scoping report and terms of references (which outline the proposed assessment process) completed and approved by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) in October 2021.
From March 2022, detailed studies have commenced to gather information on the biological, physical and social environment, assess the impacts of the rehabilitation project on these aspects and determine specific mitigation. These studies will be used to develop an Environmental Impact Study Report which will be circulated for further comment.
Key impacts identified so far
Potential positive impacts of the project are anticipated to be:
Following rehabilitation, the railway is expected to be more attractive than road for the transportation of freight. This is expected to:
- Stimulate economic development at local and national levels.
- Shift freight off the national road network; which if delivered, will also serve to improve road safety, decrease road journey times for remaining road traffic, improve wellbeing benefits for local residents and road users; reduce wear and tear on road infrastructure and decrease harmful air emissions within and around roads. It also has the potential to limit greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of material transported compared to road-based freight.
- Provide employment opportunities for ~400 skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers for the duration of rehabilitation works and for some employment opportunities during operation (note that employment oppurtunities are temporary and dispersed in nature and some of the jobs will require specialised skills, the ESIA will present more details on employment and the approach to recruitment);
- Improve the general Environmental, Health and Safety performance of the railway due to improved condition of track, new rolling stock, and capacity building provided to ZRL team.
- Potential improvements in air quality performance compared to existing railway operations as the new locomotives will reportedly consume less diesel compared to the current fleet.
- Reduce noise impacts along the alignment as the new locomotives and wagons will be of modern design and thus reportedly less noisy than the locomotives and wagons currently in use.
- Potential for the clean up of contaminated sites (such as spilled coal, oil, acid, sulphur etc) identified along the line.
Potential negative impacts include:
- Displacement (either temporary or permanent) of private or commercial properties and farms within the rail reserve (the potential extent of displacement and potential mitigation measures wand the measures to avoid and minimise displacement (e.g. by minimising the construction footprint) will be determined in the ESIA);
- Health and safety risks during construction (e.g. nuisance impacts (noise, dust, etc. during construction) and risks of spills, waste management issues etc. during rehabilitation if not managed appropriately);
- Impacts on cultural heritage (graves and memorial sites as well as potential rock art and iron age sites identified along the line); and
- Potential health and safety risks during operations due to faster trains.
Register and Comment
Please register as a stakeholder using the button below to recieve updates and further information (only register once).
Should you wish to comment please click on the "Comment Here" button (comments can be made anonymously). Your comment will be incorporated into the ESIA process, considered by the project team and feedback provided in the draft and final ESIA documents and a Frequently Asked Questions list to be prepared.
Public Consultation
Public consultation and stakeholder engagement is a critical aspect of the ESIA process and an essential priority for ZRL. The ESIA process provides the opportunity for anyone to raise concerns, and contribute local knowledge and suggestions for improvement.
Detailed ESIA information will be made available during this process.
The ESIA team is tracking comments received so far, with the type of issues raised being monitored through the live dashboard displayed.
Register and Comment
Please register as a stakeholder using the button below to recieve updates and further information (only register once).
Should you wish to comment please click on the "Comment Here" button (comments can be made anonymously). Your comment will be incorporated into the ESIA process, considered by the project team and feedback provided in the draft and final ESIA documents and a Frequently Asked Questions list to be prepared.
