Online ReporterMashudu Netsianda [email protected]
THE haunting images of mangled vehicles, grief-stricken families and mass funerals have become an increasingly familiar feature of Zimbabwe’s highways.
In recent months, the country has witnessed a disturbing rise in fatal road traffic accidents, with buses, kombis, haulage trucks and private vehicles involved in crashes that have claimed dozens of lives at a time.
The recent death of 27 people in a horrific head-on collision involving a kombi and a haulage truck near Chivhu was yet another painful reminder of the human cost of Zimbabwe’s heavy reliance on road transport. The tragedy came barely months after another major accident in Triangle, where nine people died and 26 others were injured when a bus collided with a goods train at a railway crossing.
While reckless driving, human error, speeding, poorly maintained vehicles and deteriorating road infrastructure remain major contributors to road carnage, there is a bigger question Zimbabwe can no longer afford to ignore.
Have we placed too much of the country’s passenger transport burden on the roads while allowing rail, an existing alternative, to deteriorate?
Increasingly, the answer appears to be yes. Zimbabwe urgently needs to revive and modernise its intercity passenger rail system, not as a nostalgic return to the past, but as a strategic investment in road safety, affordable mobility, tourism and national economic development.
For decades, the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) provided an affordable and dependable alternative for people travelling between the country’s major cities and towns. Passenger trains connected Harare and Bulawayo, Harare and Mutare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls, and Bulawayo and Chiredzi, among other destinations.
Overnight trains were more than simply a means of transport. They were an affordable lifeline for students, workers, traders, families and pensioners travelling long distances.
However, the gradual decline and eventual suspension of many passenger rail services has left the country’s roads carrying an overwhelming share of long-distance travellers.
Today, anyone travelling between Harare and Bulawayo, Bulawayo and Beitbridge, or Harare and Mutare is, in most cases, left with road transport as the most practical option.
As a result, thousands of passengers are funnelled onto the country’s highways every day aboard buses, kombis and private vehicles, and the consequences are there for all to see.
Congested highways, driver fatigue, speeding, dangerous overtaking, fierce competition for passengers and the growing number of heavy haulage trucks have combined to create a dangerous mix.
When one considers the number of buses, cross-border vehicles, haulage trucks and private cars competing for space on Zimbabwe’s major highways, the need to diversify the country’s transport system becomes increasingly obvious.
Rail cannot eliminate road accidents, but it can reduce the number of people exposed to the risks associated with highway travel.
The debate over reviving passenger rail should therefore no longer be viewed solely through the lens of transport convenience. Rail travel should be regarded as a road safety intervention.
Every passenger train operating between major cities could potentially remove hundreds of passengers from buses and other vehicles travelling on already congested highways.
A reliable overnight train service between Harare and Bulawayo, for instance, would give travellers a genuine choice. Instead of forcing virtually everyone onto the same highway, passengers could choose between road and rail depending on their schedules, budgets and needs.
The recent Chivhu tragedy illustrates the devastating consequences of a single road accident involving a public passenger vehicle. One collision can wipe out dozens of lives within seconds.
Road transport is inherently exposed to numerous risks, including human error, speeding, reckless overtaking, tyre bursts, mechanical failure, animals, pedestrians, potholes and unpredictable weather conditions.
Rail travel has its own risks and requires rigorous safety systems. However, a modern and properly maintained railway offers a far more controlled transport environment than a busy highway where vehicles of different sizes travel at varying speeds.
Zimbabweans do not have to choose between roads and rail. They need both.
However, for too long, the balance has tilted heavily towards road transport.
Perhaps the strongest argument for reviving intercity passenger rail is that Zimbabwe is not starting from scratch.
The country already possesses an extensive railway network linking major cities, mining centres, agricultural regions and border towns. It has railway corridors, stations and an established national railway institution.
What is needed is rehabilitation, recapitalisation and a clear vision for the future. The decline of passenger rail should not be accepted as permanent.
Instead, it should serve as the basis for a phased national revival programme focused initially on strategic routes with high passenger demand and economic significance.
These could include the Harare-Bulawayo, Harare-Mutare, Bulawayo-Beitbridge, Gweru-Masvingo and Harare-Chinhoyi corridors.
The Harare-Bulawayo route, in particular, deserves urgent attention as it links Zimbabwe’s two largest cities and carries enormous volumes of passengers and freight by road.
A reliable daily, or several-times-a-week, passenger train on this corridor could provide a safer and more affordable alternative for students, workers, businesspeople, pensioners and families.
There is evidence that public appetite for passenger rail remains strong. The NRZ reintroduced passenger train services on the Harare-Mutare and Bulawayo-Victoria Falls routes in October last year, generating considerable public interest.
The revival of these services should not be viewed as isolated transport experiments, but rather as the foundation of a broader passenger rail renaissance.
However, the success of any rail revival programme will depend on reliability.
Zimbabweans will not abandon buses and private vehicles simply because trains are available. They will use rail if it is safe, affordable, reasonably fast, clean and dependable.
A passenger boarding a train in Harare must have confidence that they will arrive in Bulawayo within a predictable timeframe.
This requires investment not only in locomotives and coaches, but also in railway tracks, signalling systems, stations and maintenance infrastructure.
The benefits of reviving intercity passenger rail would extend far beyond reducing pressure on the country’s highways.
Rail could provide affordable transport for low-income travellers at a time when intercity bus fares are increasingly beyond the reach of many ordinary Zimbabweans.
It could also stimulate domestic tourism. A modern passenger service linking Bulawayo and Victoria Falls, for example, could become part of Zimbabwe’s tourism experience rather than merely a means of reaching a destination.
Similarly, an efficient Harare-Mutare rail service could boost domestic tourism in the Eastern Highlands. Railway stations could be transformed into economic hubs supporting small businesses, restaurants, taxis and accommodation providers.
A comprehensive rail revival programme would create employment opportunities for engineers, technicians, artisans, drivers, station staff and maintenance teams.
More importantly, a stronger railway system could ease pressure on the country’s roads by shifting more freight from road to rail.
Heavy trucks are essential to the economy, but their growing presence on major highways has contributed to congestion, road deterioration and increased risks for smaller vehicles.
Moving bulk freight by rail would therefore complement efforts to improve road safety while preserving the lifespan of highways.
The revival of passenger rail should consequently go hand-in-hand with renewed efforts to shift more bulk freight from road to rail.
However, reviving passenger services must not simply mean dusting off old coaches and expecting Zimbabweans to accept uncomfortable and unreliable journeys.
The country needs a modern passenger rail vision. That vision should include refurbished or new coaches, comfortable sleeping facilities on overnight routes, clean ablution facilities, digital ticketing, improved station security and reliable schedules.
Public-private partnerships could play a critical role in funding rolling stock and modernising stations. The private sector could also participate in tourism-oriented rail services, catering and other commercial activities.
Government should treat railway infrastructure as strategic national infrastructure. The same urgency applied to road rehabilitation should be extended to railway lines.
A kilometre of rehabilitated railway track may not attract as much public attention as a newly tarred road, but its long-term contribution to transport safety and economic efficiency can be equally significant.
Zimbabwe has spent years working to make its roads safer, notably through the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP), launched in 2019 to accelerate the rehabilitation of the country’s dilapidated road network.
In February 2021, President Mnangagwa declared the country’s road network a State of Disaster, paving the way for increased investment in road rehabilitation.
The programme has since been extended as Government continues efforts to modernise infrastructure in line with the broader development agenda and Vision 2030.
These investments are necessary and must continue, but improving roads alone will not solve Zimbabwe’s transport challenges.
Every major road accident inevitably triggers calls for stricter enforcement. Police are urged to increase patrols and curb speeding, while reckless transport operators are expected to be held accountable. While all these measures are necessary, enforcement alone cannot solve what is increasingly becoming a structural transport problem.
As long as Zimbabwe continues to funnel the overwhelming majority of long-distance passengers onto its highways, the country will remain vulnerable to mass-casualty accidents.
The question is not whether rail can completely replace road transport. It cannot, absolutely not.
The real question is whether Zimbabwe can afford to continue operating a transport system in which road travel is virtually the only realistic option for millions of long-distance passengers.
Increasingly, the answer should be no. Zimbabwe’s transport future must be multimodal.
Roads will remain essential. Aviation will serve those requiring speed. Rail, however, should reclaim its place as the mass carrier for affordable long-distance travel.
The country already has the railway corridors. It has the stations. It has the institutional framework. And, judging by the response to recently revived routes, it still has a population with an appetite for train travel.
What is required now is political will, investment and a clear timetable for reviving strategic intercity passenger routes. The country’s recurring road tragedies should force a national conversation that goes beyond blaming individual drivers after every disaster.
Zimbabwe must begin asking difficult questions about how it moves its people. Every life lost on the highways is a reminder that transport policy is not merely about infrastructure and convenience. It is also a matter of public safety.
Reviving intercity passenger rail will not stop all road accidents. But every passenger safely carried by rail is potentially one less person exposed to the growing dangers of Zimbabwe’s highways. The country does not need to abandon the road. It simply needs to put rail back on track.
