THE Government has announced the soft opening of the much awaited first ever Dar es Salaam commuter train transport schedules to take off on Monday next week, while giving precautions to residents living closer to the railway line to vacate for their security before the law takes its course. The Deputy Minister for Transport Dr. Charles Tizeba told a press conference yesterday in Dar es Salaam that the soft opening will be done in two occasions, one at the main running station of Ubungo-Maziwa for Tanzania Railways Ltd (TRL) and at Mwakanga station for Tanzania and Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) as a pilot project respectively. At both stations he said, the Minister for Transport Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe who is expected to grace the occasion, will flag off two locomotive engines at different times at around 06.00 am and 0630 am respectively. The soft opening takes place in fulfillment of the government’s promise as earlier announced by the Ministry of Transport in its move to decongest Dar es Salaam city a situation which occurs during pick hours in the morning and in the evening. In view of this, the Deputy minister has warned people living closer to the railway track to make sure that are vacating as soon as possible so that they pave way for the smooth operations instead of waiting for the government to use excessive force to remove them in these areas which according to surveys has been invaded by many petty traders. He clarified that, for the safety of the people they must dwell their business activities far away from the 15 meters off the railway for security reasons. However, he added that, the ministry is therefore requesting those who have breached the law to abide by what the ministry has laid down as in accordance with the law and regulations set. Dr. Tizeba elaborated the procedures on how the commuters would be boarding the train and noted that, they will be lined up in single file at every station while entering in systematically by following first come first served system. He said that, every passenger will be required to board a train with a ticket which will be sold from 2000 selling centers, he elaborated that, the tickets will be sold like vouchers indicating different fare quotations which has been approved by Surface and Marine Transport Authority (SUMATRA). He said a ticket will be used for a single journey regardless of where a passenger disembark, these will be examined just like the normal daladala ticket used by bus commuters. However, he noted that, at the moment they will not be using a multiple ticket.
A train at Dar es Salaam railways station whereby city commuter train is expected to start its operatins on Monday next week.
Elaborating on the fare ticket to be issued in these journeys, he said that, the government through SUMATRA has proposed the fare for children and adults only. For children he said this group will include primary and secondary school students who will pay Sh. 100 through for a single trip. While for adults, this will differ for Tazara railways will pay Sh. 500/- while for TRL they will pay Sh.400/- for single trip. These fare quotations will not determine where a passenger disembarks, but it will combine a single journey through. Dr. Tizeba also clarified the time of departure for both trains and noted that, they will start to operate at 05.00 am in the morning up to 11.00 just before afternoon. There will be a short break of about four hours and resume at 15.00 pm in the evening until 20.00 at night. According to Tizeba, the time chosen for operation is exactly at the picking hours whereby the majority of city dwellers rush to their various working places, hence because of the existing problem of transport at this time, the commuter train would help shuttle them. The introduction of railway commuter services in Dar es Salaam would have the double advantage of providing Dar es Salaam residents with an additional transport system and earning struggling Tanzania Railways Limited much-needed cash. A train commuter service could also persuade many Dar es Salaam residents to leave their cars at home and take public transport instead. Meanwhile, a pilot project for Dar es Salaam rapid transport (DART) is expected to start by end of this year and will start with seven newly introduced State-of-the-art busses designed to carry between 60 to 140 passengers whose full swing operation will start in 2014. DART is a newly introduced mode of rapid city transport in the country which was established with a view to ease transport problems currently basseting residents of the city of Dar es Salaam. Speaking in Dar es Salaam early this week, the Director of transport and development of DART Asteria Mlambo noted that, the vision is to have a cost effecti9ve public transport operation which gives profits to operators. The project is anticipated to reduce to great extent congestion and saveSh.4 billion which according to research carried in 2010 by Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) has established that the increased traffic jam causes loses amounting to 20 percent to city workers and business people to delay to their respective business areas.
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