Lawrence Ookeditse
12 January 2009
At a time when the credit crunch is giving businesses hard times as consumer confidence and disposable earnings are dwindling, Botswana Railways is having record ticket sales.
The record ticket sales though, come as a great challenge as the public rail fleet operator is failing to deal with the demand. Economy tickets run out about five days in advance and so do the elite classes, thus leaving one with the club option - the cheapest traveller's nightmare. Simply, the good ol' train days seem past us.
Standing at the edge of the platform, they keep tussling even before the train arrives. As its one eye breaks out the noise escalates; some cry out for their babies getting squashed, the occasional rubble rouser screaming and whistling for the sheer fun of it. All are sweaty and the one who eventually boards has to deeply sigh in disbelief that they made it.
Botswana Railways Spokesperson, Alina Masenya, argues that the major problem is that the fleet was significantly reduced when they 'lost some wagons in an accident and decided to have the night train only'. She further argues that the cost of repairing those wagons is immense. It costs about 'four million Pula to repair them' and they 'do not have money'.
This is exactly the reason free market proponents argue that monopolies and public corporations are inefficient because they compete with no one and have no urgent reason to improve service delivery.
The national rail fleet operator has left many people out in the cold especially at peak times and during holidays. The train stations are an eyesore that belittles human civilisation.
Women with their kids slung to their backs have to literally push and huff to enter the train. Such is the scene despite them having purchased boarding tickets thus raising a question that Masenya fails to answer; if they sell only 603 tickets as per the available spaces as she says, then why can't all those with tickets find seats and peacefully go on board?
She further says she encourages 'People to buy tickets earlier so that we can adjust the closing time to 6pm and we will also request for more soldiers and police officers during holidays'. The response appears out of touch with the reality that people are cramming for unavailable space despite having paid for it.
Letsweletse Dintwa, 33, believes the operator could do more because the problems are simply due to inefficiency. "Boss, these people know that the trains are crowded and they should increase the fleet. It is not only during holidays that you get this. It happens throughout the year because bus fares are expensive and we have more people travelling by train," he says.
The economic meltdown in Zimbabwe is also blamed by some for the crisis. "What can they also do? These days they are working for citizens of two countries. You get to the station and half of the people getting to the train are Zimbabweans and they push us," Selina Pitso says, infuriated. But are the Zimbabwean people to blame given that the trains have always offered them transport?
"It is true we cannot leave them behind but they also should learn to live well with us. If they come to the station and push us so hard then they become a problem. I almost dislocated a shoulder on Sunday and if I had a kid she could have been badly bruised. This is why I had to call and ask you guys to write something about the train problems," she says defensively.
Bus fares are said not to be giving people any choice as they simply are too high, making the train an only option. "I waited until the 24th to travel so I take advantage of the new bus fares but it was useless because the fare cuts are just insignificant. They only cut off seven Pula for the Francistown journey. Next time I am also boarding a train," Changu Itani says. The blues do not end when you eventually board. "It is too congested even inside and you can imagine the human odour after everybody has to sweat to board. The stench will just linger on the air for some hours. Terena e a re sotla malatsi tsala yame - the train makes us suffer these days my friend," Pitso further says.
The blue train, formerly a celebrated transport mode is becoming obsolete. In developed countries, the train is almost the perfect mode of transport due to maintenance and efficiency. They do crash but they are repaired due to a sense of business that accompanies running such fleets. In fact, if the company is unable to raise the revenue through its business line, they would rather borrow to finance the repair and have the train replaced to make more money.
Here, the midnight train to Gaborone has become a midnight train of blues unlike the country music popularised Midnight Train to Georgia aboard which lovely memories are created.
The legendary song, played on my mind on my first midnight train journey to Gaborone five years ago, during the good ol' train days.
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