THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has increased
inter-city passenger train fares by 100 percent.
Intra-city commuter train fares, however, remain unchanged
at $1 for a return ticket. NRZ operates three daily and two weekly inter-city
passenger train services countrywide.
The daily train return routes are Bulawayo-Victoria Falls,
Bulawayo-Harare and Mutare-Harare while the weekly service is offered on the
Bulawayo-Chiredzi and Bulawayo-Chikwalakwala routes.
NRZ Public Relations Manager, Mr Nyasha Maravanyika,
yesterday said the adjustment in fares had been necessitated by rising
operational expenses.
“The fares for the five inter-city routes we are currently
servicing have been increased by 100 percent. The increase affects all the three
classes.
“Although we have a duty to provide affordable transport
services to the people, we need to balance the cost of operations and service
provision. That is why we have moved on to increase so that we survive the
economic pressures,” said Mr Maravanyika.
He said sleeper class travellers on the Bulawayo-Victoria
Falls and Bulawayo-Harare routes will now pay $60 up from $30 while the
standard fare is now pegged at $50 up from $25.
The economy class is
now pegged at $40 up from $20.
The cost of travelling on the Mutare-Harare return route
increased to $40 from $20 for first class while the standard class now costs
$30 from $15. The economy class now costs $25 up from $12.
Mr Maravanyika however, could not immediately give the new
fares for the Bulawayo-Chiredzi and Bulawayo-Chikwalakwala routes.
He said the fares were still low and affordable,
considering that they are a third of what buses on the same routes are
charging.
“The increase is insignificant but we’re happy to provide a
service to the community. Our profit actually comes from the freight, not
passenger trains. The Harare-Mutare train was oversubscribed and increasing the
fares was a way of trying to manage the numbers,” Mr Maravanyika said.
He said their biggest challenge was lack of capacity due to
inadequate equipment.
Mr Maravanyika said NRZ used to operate nine inter-city
routes but reduced them to five, two of them being weekly due to lack of
capacity.
“We’re currently working with our mechanical workshops to
increase our coaches and refurbish our equipment. We’re hoping to improve on
efficiency and we’re also pinning our hopes on the recapitalisation deal signed
with the Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG)/ Transnet to
refurbish and in some cases overhaul locomotives, coaches and the railway
line,” he said.
Mr Maravanyika said while numbers are picking up between
Bulawayo and Harare, the train service was facing challenges due to vandalism
of infrastructure between Harare and Gweru.
The stretch used to be electrified but was destroyed by
thieves who stole copper cables and illegal panners who mine along the railway
line.
The NRZ has seen passenger volumes rising by 300 percent
since the beginning of the year as more people turn to affordable rail
transport due to the high cost of travelling by road. Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment