Bulawayo-Vic Falls passenger train derails, no casualties

NRZ trainMpumelelo Nyoni Chronicle Reporter
PASSENGERS aboard the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls train got a scare on Sunday night after two coaches derailed near Mpopoma train station in Bulawayo.  Witnesses told Chronicle that there was commotion as passengers screamed in fear. They said passengers in the coaches scrambled out through windows. National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) public relations manager, Fanuel Masikati confirmed the incident yesterday and said investigations into the cause of the accident were underway.

“I can confirm that a passenger train derailed near Mpopoma Station at 9PM on Sunday. There were no injuries and investigations are underway to establish the cause of the accident,” said Masikati.

He told Chronicle that the train proceeded to Victoria Falls three hours later after NRZ technicians went to the scene. However, he said they it had not been immediately established what caused the train to derail. He said he did not have the figure for the number of passengers on board offhand.

The latest incident comes just over a month after 120 passengers cheated death after a Harare-bound passenger train they were travelling in derailed at Heany Junction 30 kilometres from Bulawayo.

Members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development heard last month that the 470km rail track between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls was now a death trap and needed a complete overhaul to the tune of $50 million as rampant vandalism was negatively affecting operations.

The committee was on a familiarisation tour of the NRZ’s Bulawayo facilities when they came face-to-face with the mounting problems at the rail company.
NRZ has recorded three train derailments on the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Route this year.

One of them killed a tourist and injured 20 others when a Victoria Falls Steam Train Company tram collided with an NRZ goods train in July. The tourists were attending the wedding of Australian millionaire Peter Holmes à Court to American photographer Alissa Everett. Aged infrastructure has been blamed for the recurring rail accidents.

Some sections of network are said to be so bad that drivers are reportedly instructed not to exceed 30 kilometres per hour on them.

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