N$13 Billion Commuter Rail Plan Links Windhoek, Katutura and Rehoboth

Government is moving ahead with plans to develop a dedicated commuter rail system linking Windhoek to Rehoboth in the south and to Katutura within the capital, with an initial allocation of N$13.08 billion earmarked in the medium-term infrastructure pipeline. The project is being coordinated through TransNamib and the Ministry of Works and Transport, and would be the largest dedicated passenger-rail investment in Namibia's modern history. The existing narrow-gauge corridor between Windhoek and Rehoboth is freight-orientated and would be upgraded to handle higher-frequency commuter traffic, with modern rolling stock procured in phases. The case for the investment is congestion and affordability. Greater Windhoek's population has grown by almost a third since 2011, but road capacity has not kept up. Minibus taxi fares for the Windhoek–Rehoboth corridor have become a meaningful share of household transport spending, particularly for workers who commute daily into the capital. Commuter rail is expected to do three things: pull a significant share of peak-hour passenger traffic off the B1, reduce per-trip emissions, and open up more affordable housing options further out of Windhoek without making the commute unmanageable. Katutura integration is the harder engineering problem — the existing freight route does not naturally serve the dense residential grid of Katutura, so new alignments and stations will be needed. The 2026 milestone to watch is the technical feasibility and EIA sign-off. Construction timelines published in the infrastructure pipeline point to a phased delivery through 2029–2031. Financing arrangements are expected to mix government capital with concessional development-bank funding.