george matthews wrote:But wasn't the metre gauge line still functioning?
It seems to me that a number of African countries which only have a single railway route which is so decrepit that it really needs to be rebuilt anyway, have chosen to build a new one in standard gauge rather than try to rehabilitate the old metre or cape gauge lines. This probably works out cheaper in the long run, allows access to off-the-shelf locos, rolling stock and other equipment (including second hand kit) much more easily than the smaller gauges do, and also allows for the possibility of inter-operability between nations (which is difficult at the moment due to the different gauges in use). I think it is a reasonable strategy.
South Africa is the exception, as they already have such a large and well-developed rail network which is inter-operable with other southern African countries, up to and including Tanzania, so there is no point in replacing it with standard gauge except for the odd stand-alone line such as Gautrain.