Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway
The Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway is a privately owned railway company that provides a rail link in Zimbabwe between Beitbridge at the South African border and Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayo.
The BBR is a build-operate-transfer project that has shortened the distance between Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and South Africa to. Prior to its inauguration, rail service between South Africa and Bulawayo used a route through Botswana that is about longer. The shorter line has been used primarily for freight transportation. The principal contractor was Concor Holdings.
New Limpopo Projects Investments Limited, a Mauritius registered company, specialises in private sector investments using the build-operate-transfer concept.
The BBR is one of the three connected NLPI railway operations in Zimbabwe and Zambia that form a rail link between South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The BBR was inaugurated on 15 July 1999. After 30 years of service the BBR will be handed over to the National Railways of Zimbabwe at no cost. It has had a profound negative impact on the profitability of Botswana Railways that saw its Zimbabwe-related freight volume drop by 90,000 to 10,000 tons.
