Engineering and Technical Services

The role of the Engineering & Technical Services business unit of TransNamib Holdings is to maintain all key productive assets and make them available for the business operations of the company. These assets include locomotives, rolling stock, rail infrastructure, motor vehicles, plant machinery, electrical & telecommunications systems, buildings and workshops including all the associated engineering facilities.

The business unit is also responsible for some engineering design work and defining of the appropriate technologies that address the business needs of the company. In order to achieve this, the business unit is divided into four major divisions namely, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical & telecommunications and research & development.

The business unit maintains a total railway route length of 2687 kilometres; a fleet of 71 diesel-electric locomotives; 1658 wagons; 74 passenger coaches; 51 cabooses and over 800 passenger vehicles & heavy trucks combined. A total of 781 people are employed in the various disciplines of engineering. The Executive: Engineering & Technical Services is responsible for the business unit and reports directly to the office of the Chief Executive Officer.

The unit’s responsibilities, amongst others, include the maintenance of the machinery: the main engines, auxiliary engines, electrical installations, cranes, winches, cargo pumps and ensuring compliance of the machinery to the required certification standards. These services are delivered through the following departments:

  • Civil engineering, which is responsible for the maintenance of the railway, buildings and bridges; Mechanical Engineering, responsible for the repair and maintenance of locomotives, vehicles, carriages and wagons;
  • Telecommunication and electrical engineering is concerned with the installation, repair and maintenance of telecommunications, radio, electronic and electrical systems and equipment; and
  • Research and Development is responsible for the continuous investigations of improvement areas and new technologies in infrastructure and other equipment.