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MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
Edited by:Pulane
The current transportation landscape in Lesotho is highly driven by the road-based transport modes. However, other
modes are also present in Lesotho and the Non-motorised Transport (NMT) or Intermediate Means of Transport (IMT)
modes play a significantly important role in the movement of people in Lesotho.
Road-based Transport
Air Transport
The road-based modes are categorized into 9 separate
classes of vehicles that include all private vehicles,
freight vehicles as well as public transport modes.
Air Transport, similarly to rail transport, is underutilised
in Lesotho. This is largely linked to the gradual decline
in the associated infrastructure condition. Lesotho has
one international airport, the Moshoeshoe I
International Airport, which is in need of upgrades. As
for rail, this document utilises a number of proposed
projects to address the shortfall in this sub-sector of
transportation.
The yearly increase in the overall vehicle population in
Lesotho, Leribe district. When considering the public
transport landscape in Lesotho, it is evident that private
minibus taxis and the sedan taxis (also known as “4+1s”) are
dominating this environment.
Leribe vehicle overall
3500
3000
Leribe
2500
2000
1500
1000
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Non-Motorised Transport (NMT)
Inland Water Transport (IWT)
NMT is a considerably important mode of transport in
Lesotho. The inaccessibility of certain regions of
Lesotho, combined with relatively high levels of poverty
in those regions, drive people to utilise these modes of
transport on a daily basis. NMT modes that are popular
in Lesotho include;
IWT is a necessity in those areas of Lesotho that have
prevalent rivers separating communities. The inland
water transport consists of 39 inland river crossings
served by 44 ferry boats owned by and operated by
Ministry of Transport, complemented by private
operators working longer hours.

Walking

Horse

donkey rides
Rail Transport

animal-drawn
Rail is currently very limited in Lesotho.
The Bloemfontein-Maseru link is the
only rail access into Lesotho and is in
itself underutilised. Currently, the rail
link consists of only 2.5 km narrowgauge railway which runs through
Maseru West industrial area between the Maseru Station
and the South African border at Maseru Bridge.
Passenger and parcel rail services to and from the
Maseru Train Station were discontinued in the late 1980s
as they turned out to be commercially unviable.
In view of the thin distribution of road transport in rural
areas, particularly in the mountainous regions, this
mode of transport will remain dominant for some time.
These modes of transport often provide the link
between rural, inaccessible areas and busier transport
routes.
A number of different options have been considered to revive this mode of transportation in Lesotho, yet the challenges
include the cooperation from the South African side as well as the highly mountainous terrain in Lesotho itself. This report
makes reference to some projects that are aimed at uplifting the rail industry.
Документ1
Pulane,220755,075