Namibia opens Walvis Bay-Karibib rail corridor for mining cargo

Namibia's state rail operator TransNamib and logistics firm Kaleido Logistics have launched a new rail service between the port of Walvis Bay and the inland town of Karibib, aiming to shift up to 25,000 tonnes of freight a month from road to rail. The corridor initially focuses on marble and granite blocks, alongside other mining cargo, construction materials and containerised freight, and is anchored by a new Kaleido logistics hub in Karibib offering storage, consolidation and transshipment facilities next to the railway.

Kaleido Logistics chief executive Xoán Martínez said the partnership "builds on experience gained in neighbouring markets and positions the new corridor as a competitiveness driver for Namibia", while TransNamib chief executive Desmond van Jaarsveld said working with logistics partners "allows TransNamib to deliver more reliable and sustainable transport solutions while strengthening Namibia's position as a regional logistics hub".

Taking trucks off the road

At an average payload of 34 tonnes per truck, the companies estimate the new rail service could remove about 735 truck movements a month from the road between Karibib and the coast, along with cutting an estimated 900 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year through the shift from road to rail haulage. Namibia has increasingly positioned Walvis Bay as the gateway not just for its own mining and quarrying exports but for landlocked neighbours moving copper and other minerals along the wider Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor.

A small but symbolic addition

The Karibib corridor's tonnage is modest next to the copper volumes moving through Walvis Bay from Zambia's copperbelt, but it reflects a broader pattern of Namibian and regional operators trying to formalise rail options for mining and quarrying cargo that has historically moved by truck. The two companies planned to formally showcase the new corridor to the industry at the Namibia Mining Expo and Conference in Windhoek in early August 2026, positioning it as a template that could be extended to other commodities moving out of Namibia's interior.

Sources

• Breakbulk News: TransNamib, Kaleido Logistics launch Walvis Bay rail corridor to shift 25,000 tonnes monthly, 31 Jul 2026

Photo: The Port of Walvis Bay in Namibia. Ji-Elle, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.