NRZ Sets The Record Straight On Viral Train Footage
The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has addressed a video circulating online that shows a shunt train hauling one loaded drop side wagon, which was misinterpreted as a mainline train transporting a single wagon.
In a statement issued on Thursday, January 9, the NRZ explained that it operates two types of trains—main line and shunt trains.
Main line trains traverse long distances between towns and cities, using heavier locomotives that can haul up to 1700 gross tonnes.
Shunt trains, on the other hand, are used for placing and clearing traffic or empty wagons from customer sidings, as well as for assembling long-haul trains (putting several wagons together) or breaking them apart at their destination. These trains use lighter locomotives that can haul up to 700 gross tonnes.
The NRZ clarified that the train in the video is a shunt train, not a mainline train. It is specifically designed for smaller tasks, such as hauling one loaded wagon with 40 net tonnes of cargo for a client. Reads the statement:
The NRZ wishes to clarify some misinformation going on regarding one of our shunt trains filmed hauling one loaded drop-side wagon.
It appears whoever filmed and distributed the footage online misconstrued that it was one of our mainline trains transporting one wagon.
As a matter of clarification, the NRZ has two types of trains which operate within its system, and these are known as main line and shunt trains.
Further, we use different types of locomotives to haul these trains, mainline locomotives are heavier and haul a maximum of 1700 gross tonnes whilst the shunt locomotive are lighter and thus haul a maximum of 700 gross tonnes.
The main line train is the one which traverses long distances between towns and cities while the shunt train is used for placing and clearing traffic or empty wagons from customer siding and for building a long-haultrain (putting several wagons together to make a train) or breaking a train when it arrives at the destination in preparation to place the cargo at different customer sidings.
The train appearing in the concerned video is a shunt train being hauled by our less heavy locomotive (shunt loco) and pulling one loaded wagon with 40 net tonnes of cargo for one of our clients.
This shunt train is precisely meant to carry out such small tasks and is never used for long-haul movement of cargo.
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