A BLESSING for some quarters but a curse for others.
That sums up the entry of transportation by train from Dar es Salaam to Moshi, and more-so during the current festive season, when quite many sons and daughters of the foothills of the Kili mountain head northwards to “eat” Christmas in the company of family members.
The blessing is that, while the fare per passenger between the coastal city and Moshi ranged between 35,000/- and 50,000/- against the officially sanctioned 30,000 /- due to heightened demand, the train fare is 16,500/-.
For transporters who made the proverbial “kill” during the festive season are naturally disturbed by the train service that they perceive to be a spoiler, while passengers who had previously been shortchanged are delighted.
The Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC) has restored hope for stranded travellers plying from Dar es Salaam to the Northern Zone to enjoy the festive season as the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) train ferried another set of 950 passengers via its special route, yesterday.
The number makes up a total of 6,500 passengers generated from the re-established route termed as a blessing for what had turned out to be the end of the year common travel misery to the Northern Zone regions travellers.
With that figure, it would have taken 100 buses to ferry the travellers but the train has succeeded to serve all in just seven trips.
Flagging off the special train, the Minister for Works, Transport and Communications, Eng Isack Kamwelwe, said the train has acted as a great relief to the travellers using the route during this time of the year, citing a plan of procuring 43 new wagons.
Eng Kamwelwe cited the misery of passengers who previously could not travel alongside their children to mark Christmas and New Year celebrations due to transportation hassles.
“Since the route began, the train goes to Kilimanjaro full and returns full…for the transport system has proved to be safe, affordable and reliable. “For the time the route has been operational, we have witnessed a huge demand thus the plan is to embark on further improvements in the revival,” said Eng Kamwelwe.
He disclosed that the office has received requests from Arusha travellers who have shown interest for the train to reach there.
He, however, noted another huge demand from Kigoma travellers who have been using TRC trains to reach their destinations.
The minister expressed gratitude to President John Magufuli’s administration for restoring the lost glory of the Northern Zone travellers by supporting TRC to revive the railway line that serves the route.
“First it was the cargo train and now it is the passenger train, all the praise should go to the President and TRC for making it happen,” noted the minister.
Earlier on, the minister made a tour in the train to exchange a word or two with the travellers who saluted TRC and the President for easing their trips, especially at this time when most are queuing at Ubungo Bus Terminal scrambling for tickets.
It is a relief that train fares from Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro are 16,500/- for third class, 23,500/- for second class seating and 39,100/- for second class sleeping.
Among the concerns raised by the passengers was the ticket reservation process which requires a passenger to get a control number, then lines up for payment and secure the ticket.
To the travellers, the process consumes a lot of time which would have been saved by getting all the services on a single queue.
Based on the concern, the minister pledged to return on Monday to witness for himself how the procedure works.
Whereas the passenger route began early December, Tanga to Moshi cargo train services started in July this year following extensive repair work on the rail line after it was out of use for 12 years.
Some 800 tonnes of cement from Tanga Cement were transported to Moshi on the relaunch of the cargo train services expected to provide reliable freight transport between the port of Tanga and the northern regions of Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara.
The 800 tonnes of cement would have been transported to Moshi using over 30 trucks.
