Public transport continues to grow with the latest batch of 50 new Golden Dragon buses from China passing through Beitbridge at the weekend to join the Zupco fleet and the new train service linking central Harare with Mufakose and Budiriro at peak hours getting into its stride with a growing number of regular passengers.
Over the last 12 months, Government has imported more than
400 buses from China, not only boosting the Zupco fleet, but starting the
process of standardising models easing maintenance and allowing good stocks of
spares.
The new buses are shipped like the previous batches to
Durban. They crossed the Limpopo on Sunday and Monday morning and were cleared
through customs in batches of 10 to avoid congesting the border post.
The actual cost of each bus could not be readily verified,
but Golden Dragons sell for just over the equivalent of US$50 000 each in
China. The commercial deal for the buses was set up by President Mnangagwa on
visits to China.
Zupco acting chief executive officer Mr Everisto Madangwa
said he will give more details regarding the import later when the buses arrive
in Harare.
It is understood that more than 1 000 buses have been
acquired from China and Belarus and they are being delivered to the country in
batches of between 50 and 100 buses.
The Government has since reaffirmed its commitment to ease
transport challenges by availing reliable and affordable transport to the
people in line with Vision 2030.
A few days ago Zupco entered into a deal with the National
Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) to ease transport problems in major urban areas
starting with Bulawayo and Harare.
The first service, that between the city centre and the
main heavy industrial area and the huge suburbs of Mufakose and Budiriro,
started on Tuesday afternoon as an integrated train and bus service. Using a
single $60 ticket commuters use buses to get to the railway line then take the
train to town and on the return trip use the train and the feeder buses, again
on a single
ticket.
It is expected that the integration of bus and train
services on single tickets will avoid the many problems that earlier commuter
trains saw.
The City-Ruwa and City-Tynwald services in Harare start
soon and the scheme is being rolled out to Bulawayo.
The three Harare services will add the equivalent in
passenger capacity of more than 50 long buses, helping to boost the public
transport system as well as given commuters from the served suburbs a faster
and more comfortable ride.
Yesterday afternoon the new service worked well with more
passengers and more now knowing exactly how it operated. It took exactly 45
minutes for passengers to arrive in Mufakose from the city centre.
Most of the passengers aboard the train described it as
affordable and reliable.
Among the passengers was Information, Publicity and
Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Mr Nick Mangwana and other Government
officials who also talked to the passengers.
The train left Harare station at 5.30pm, convenient for
many now that business hours have been restored to normal, before arriving in
Mufakose around 6.15pm, although some passengers were dropped off along the way.
The train stopped at Lever Brothers, Lonchivar and
Kambuzuma dropping off passengers at the stations where Zupco buses were
waiting to take them to their final destinations.
Before boarding the train the passengers had their hands
sanitised with security staff making sure that they were wearing their masks in
line with the Covid-19 regulations.
Each passenger was then made to pay $40 for the trip by
Zupco conductors who were manning the platform access gates or on the door to
gain access to the train. This is lower than the advertised $60 fare.
NRZ security staff then moved around the train urging
people not to disembark while it was in motion as it was dangerous and could
cost one’s life.
One of the passengers, Mrs Zvikomborero Nyanzira of
Budiriro 5B said it was her first time to board the train and applauded
Government for bringing back the commuter trains.
“This is a good move by the Government because these trains
save time and they are cheap and reliable at the same time. During the journey
you don’t experience any traffic congestion and harassment from the touts who
have now resurfaced and are playing hide and seek with the police,” she said.
Another passenger, Mr Simbarashe Semba of Mufakose said
Government had done so well as this would get rid of mushikashika.
“With these trains, all you need to do is just buy your
ticket and then get a seat. You can sit anyway you want without any hustles.
They are also no long winding queues that most people experience at some of the
bus terminuses in the city waiting for transport,” he said.
Passengers are already suggesting improvements. One who
identified herself as Mai Gamu from Budiriro urged the relevant authorities to
ensure that they put adequate lighting inside
She said Government should avail more trains and reliable
transport to other areas to cater for the people.
In an interview, Mr Mangwana said Government is concerned
about the lives of the urban dwellers and it had done a lot to improve their
lives besides alleviating transport problems, including improving lighting
systems, traffic system, the water system and the rehabilitation of the road
network, among others.
He said the new commuter trains would alleviate transport
problems being faced by the people.
“I have used a number of metropolitan railway lines and
trains in my very short life and this matches any that we have used in terms of
comfort, keeping to the timetable and the lack of rowdiness on the train.
“Actually in some metropolitan cities you feel unsafe
because there will be drunk people who will be very rowdy to make you feel
uncomfortable but in this one we were seated decently with people having
conversations. Women felt settled and nobody was being molested and even when
it got a bit darker, it was still ok,” he said.
He added: “Yes the carriages are a bit older. There are
some touch ups that are needed and there is no question about that. We will
need lighting in there and as you can see it’s a little bit darker and people
will be safer if there is lighting but it’s the safest mode of travel.
“We also got here on time. We didn’t run into traffic. We
were not gridlocked somewhere, which you will get when you are driving. Yes
Government has taken this country in the right direction on this one.”
He assured the public that the whole system was going to be
modernised but at the same time urged people to help stop vandalism and help
look after the assets so more money was spent on improvements and expansion and
less on replacing damaged equipment and avoidable repairs.
The new Harare commuter train services started on Tuesday
afternoon on the Mufakose route with those trying it out given a free test
ride.
The Ruwa route is expected to start today and the third
service, the Tynwald route, is expected to start Monday next week.
The trains have 10 coaches each and a carrying capacity of
100 passengers per coach. So each train can carry more than 15 bus loads of
passengers. Herald
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