We are reeling over backwards because we are back in the days when it was possible for the government to plan and to do, not dream or beg, fail to get money or it starts something and it fizzles.
What is properly 21st century at least for Tanzania is but the standard gauge railway - not for the change of gauge as the Tanzania Zambia Railway was standard gauge already but rather as its high speed variety. With the sort of efficiency that has been introduced into government and state corporate activity, and being assured of the same for the next half decade or so, plenty is going to be achieved. In that case the restoration of the northern line opens room for more opportunities, ease of travel, but it needs boosting up its speed too.
That is the reaction one gets from potential users of the rail services as so far it is unclear what will be its travelling schedule vis a vis that of buses. Traditionally it used to take much more time and the speed at some sections was just agonizing, as one could proverbially take out a stove and make tea, finish two cups and then get back to his wagon by a rapid walk, without even needing to run. This was the case to check if the ground was holding in water logged situations.
At the moment the government is set to procure 40 new coaches to improve the carriage of passengers along the recently launched train route from Dar es Salaam to northern zone regions. The railway firm says passengers using the services are up from an estimated 700 people to 900 per trip, and many more will use the services if the speeds improve somewhat. There is where the riddle lies, if there are better mechanisms to ensure that trains are more efficient, or there are investments that weren’t being assured earlier, to quicken trains.
Looking at the matter from a different angle, the restoration of the northern line and plans to build a rail track from Mtwara to Mbambabay along the Lake Nyasa shoreline as well as to take current services from Moshi to Arusha and then to Musoma, several other ideas come to mind. With PPP (public private partnership, there can be a railway line from Dodoma via Arusha to Nairobi, which could even rebalance the direction of investments in the country and elsewhere in the region. With an emboldened PPP the sky is the limit.
Minister Isack Kamwelwe was celebrating the recent restoration of passenger trains to Moshi after a quarter century suspension, in which case we are now reeling backwards to rediscover capacity of the state in various sectors. This we have seen from building durable roads with proper drainage facilities, to actually moving the capital to Dodoma, which has taken 46 years to find the will and invent the resource assurance to do so. It wasn’t having more resources in the first place as many will say we have slightly less purchasing power now, but resoluteness on priorities, not privileges and nonchalance.
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