The commuting public has expressed mixed feelings over the partnership between two state owned entities ZUPCO and the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) for the reintroduction of commuter trains in Harare and Bulawayo during peak-periods to ease transport problems.
Since government banned private owned commuter omnibuses (kombis), transport shortages have been the order of the day in major cities and towns as the Zupco franchise has struggled to cope with the high demand.
As a result, there has been an increase in pirate taxis that are causing congestion in major roads linking the central business districts during peak hours.
“It’s a welcome development. We really appreciate this move. It’s been long overdue,” said Tendai Maguta, a vegetable vendor in Harare CBD.
“We are happy because we realize that most of the pirate taxis were charging as high as US$ 1.50 from town to Mbudzi Roundabout last Friday because people were stranded.”
According to state media, the ZUPCO-NRZ deal will kick-off today with three routes in Harare namely CBD to Mufakose, Tynwald and Ruwa all starting this afternoon.
Similar arrangements are still to be concluded in Bulawayo.
Last Friday the commuting public in Harare were left stranded in long queues at all bus termini across the city as Zupco buses were overwhelmed prompting many to opt for pirate taxis.
This led to massive congestions along major intersections.
However others are of the view that the reintroduction of commuter trains is not a lasting solution to Harare and Bulawayo’s transport challenges.
“Bringing trains will not solve transport challenges. Harare is growing rapidly and the railway system only serves a thin fraction of the commuting public. You realize that there are people who stay around Highfields, Waterfalls, Chitungwiza, Hopely and surrounding areas cannot benefit from commuter trains because there are no rails there,” said Passengers Association of Zimbabwe (PAZ) president, Tafadzwa Goliati told 263Chat.
There are also safety concerns over the state of the rail system which even NRZ has conceded in the past to be in bad state owing to years of neglect.
“We have done our surveys as PAZ and we were not happy with the state of the rail system and the signal system,” said Goliati.
Below are some of the social media reactions to the NRZ-Zupco partnership.
@matirapre wrote, “Who remembers freedom trains. We are moving in circles and always going back to our vomit. We need newer and better solution.”
@Wezhaz33 said, “Trains are modern transport systems in urban arrears baba Jecha.”
@tawac wrote, “Say what??? We gonna be having ZUPCO trains now?
@KellyMunhenga wrote, “The same non performing state entities given the monopoly to transport passengers. The ones making these decisions know for sure it won’t affect them so why worry.”
