Passenger train could yet be saved

Mmegi Editor | Tuesday May 13, 2014 10:39

Passenger rail services were suspended in 2009 and the logic was simple: a struggling parastatal, saddled with an ageing fleet and problematic infrastructure, was forced to choose between its cash-cow being goods traffic and its charity case, being the passenger service.

At about P40 for the Gaborone-Francistown service, Botswana Railways’ justifiably felt that the passenger service was a luxury it could ill-afford. And at this point ends the parastatal’s innovation and that of its parent ministry. The ministry still has the infrastructure, the technical expertise, the market of eager passengers and the benefit of a monopoly, but innovation was the missing key.

How then can it be explained that a ministry of policymakers and the technocrats at Botswana Railways could ignore what any economist instinctively knows; namely that demand drives supply.

Given this very basic economic principle, the ministry could have lobbied for the liberalisation of the railway sector for companies to bid to operate a passenger rail service. The Botswana Railways, which would not be a competitor in this instance as it has relinquished the passenger service, could earn additional revenue as the provider of the railway, associated infrastructure and logistics.

Government would need to iron out tariff rates for both the Botswana Railways as infrastructure provider and the rail operators. This process, however, should acknowledge that Botswana Railways has in fact shirked its responsibility of providing an affordable and sustainable rail service to the public, as is enjoyed by citizens of other countries.

It is also possible that a rising middle class like Botswana could attract tourism and luxury rail operators such as is the case in South Africa and Zimbabwe.These private tour operators could conduct their own independent feasibility studies and determine the economics of their participation, without government interference.

The market is essential in all these possibilities and cursory evidence suggests that a rich, eager and almost impatient market is out there waiting for innovation around the rail route.

The alternative transport mode for many former passenger train customers is the A1 highway, which is among the deadliest in the country. The fatalities are linked to greater road congestion with the vehicle population shooting up from 359,238 vehicles in 2009 to 515,270 last year, although this increase has not dampened the need for a passenger rail service as seen by the higher density of bus operators on the highway. Instead of innovating around this demand, the transport ministry allows expensive rail infrastructure to lie under-utilised, while potential passengers drift towards alternatives. With economies of scale, cheap rail services could once again become the national transport choice for passengers and a transport alternative for our investors. Innovation is holding us back.

 

 

                                                                Today’s thought

“Dreamers are mocked as impractical. The truth is they are the most practical, as their innovations lead to progress and a better

way of life for all of us.”

 

                                                               Robin S. Sharma