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Zambia Railways Limited has created 496 jobs through 11 cooperatives dotted along the line of rail.

The cooperatives were formed after extensive consultations with relevant Government Ministries and key stakeholders.

In the Southern Region there are one hundred and fifty-six members , Central Region has one hundred and fifty one members , Northern Region has one hundred and thirty seven members and Intermine Region has fifty two members.

It is worth noting that involving local communities especially the youth through cooperatives fosters a sense of ownership and pride in the railway infrastructure .

The benefits that the company derives from these cooperatives include the regular maintenance of the track, quick responses to emergencies, enhanced accountability as well as assisting the company in fighting vandalism and theft of infrastructure materials.

Currently, the option of using cooperatives is more beneficial as the company is able to do more within the available resources. Additionally, using cooperatives for railway track maintenance has led to improved efficiency, cost savings as well as community involvement, leading to the overall maintenance of the railway infrastructure.

Previously, Zambia Railways Limited was using Contractors for track maintenance .In 2018, the contractors’ poor performance coupled with other challenges required an adjustment in the track maintenance approach, leading to the formation of Cooperatives. The patrol men, track workers and track supervisors form part of the cooperative members.