Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) is inviting qualified operators to undertake the concession of the Njanji Commuter Service (NCS) assets, mainly the railway line covering a distance of 13.5 kilometers. The Concession is for a period of 15 years renewable based on performance, and the concessionaire will be expected to manage the infrastructure and rail operations.

The Concessionaire will also be responsible for management and maintenance of all assets and will be required to maintain the immovable assets and return it to the State at the end of the concession period in as good if not better condition at the end of the tenth year of the concession.

Government will ensure that access is granted to run the commuter services along the original NCS mainline but will not guarantee access to the Zambia Railways Mainline which is currently under a different concession. However, the Concessionaire may negotiate with the relevant stakeholders the right to access this line to cover Ngwerere to Chilanga which is yet another densely populated area covering a distance of approximately 25km from the North of Lusaka to the South.

Technical Proposals should address possible remodelling or rehabilitation investment methods, such as Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and variants of BOT schemes. The potential bidders must be qualified operators with a proven track record of operating the business similar to NCS. To infuse in the required technical capacity to manage these assets the ZDA is encouraging Strategic Partnerships or Consortiums with Zambian participation.