As a result of the rapid development of the goldfields on the Witwatersrand in the 1880s and the demand for coal by the growing industry, the of the (ZAR), also known as the Transvaal Republic, granted a concession to the Nederlandsche-Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg&shy;maatschappij (Netherlands-South African Railway Company, NZASM) on 20 July 1888 to construct a 16 miles railway from Johannesburg to Boksburg.