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Lack of tracks that branch into midway stations is making it difficult for the National Railways of Zimbabwe to compete with road transport, leading to massive loss of business, a senior official has said.
From a peak transportation load of 12 million tons per annum in 1999, the NRZ had fallen to 2, 6 million tons in 2009.
NRZ acting general manager Mr Lewis Mukwada said the general state of decline was mostly a result of the nature of the railway network which was not flexible like the road system which haulage trucks use.
“We do not have the same flexibility as road transport has. Haulage trucks can divert into midway stations for deliveries and collections but we cannot do that,” he said.
Mr Mukwada said 80 percent of bulk cargo was now being moved by road and haulage trucks had taken over what goods trains used to carry.
“These goods include ferrochrome, coal, chrome ore and other cargo which haulage trucks are now carrying,” he said.
“We also still have traffic that is one way and that is impinging on our ability to lower rates as compared to road transport,” he added.
He also bemoaned the massive vandalism of signalling infrastructure which needs a complete overhaul to prevent accidents.
Currently the NRZ is sharing UHF (ultrahigh frequency) wireless systems with local cellphone companies in order to reduce costs.
The company requires between $60 to $100 million to overhaul the signal system which was vandalised during the hyper inflationary era.—New Ziana
Online Reporter