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, a concession was granted by the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) government to the Nederlandsche-Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg-Maatschappij (Netherlands-South African Railway Company, NZASM) on 20 July 1888 to construct a 16 miles railway from Johannesburg to Boksburg.