TRC refunds passengers after trip cancelled

What you need to know:

Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) has decided to refund its passengers who were supposed to travel to Kigoma through Deluxe Train, following the cancellation of the trip. The cancellation came after a train which was supposed to arrive today, failed to arrive due to ongoing maintenances.

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) decided to refund some passengers their fares yesterday, following cancellation of the train trip to Kigoma.

The deluxe train was supposed to depart yesterday to Kigoma Region, and hundreds of passengers were already booked for the trip, but it was rescheduled to Thursday next week.

Reports said cancellation of the trip was due to ongoing maintenance to railway which was damaged by accidents.

A source within the corporation said the train which was supposed to carry booked passengers was expected to arrive Sunday morning, but due to maintenance, the train will now arrive tomorrow from Kigoma. One of the passengers who were refunded their fare Mr Amani Bilal has condemned the corporation officials for not communicating earlier in order to find an alternative ways of traveling instead of refunds, which came as a surprise.

“There are some passengers who came from Tegeta and they will incur costs of taxi back home, but if they have no money, how are they going to travel back to where they came from?” he asked.

Rail transport was once one of the most reliable and cheapest modes of transport in Tanzania, but the corporation went bust in the late 1990s due to poor management, disrepair of infrastructure, theft and poor corporate management.

The government is currently implementing the standard gauge railway (SGR) from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, which is expected to be a reliable and cheap mode of transport in Tanzania than buses and aviation. The first phase of construction of 300 kilometres from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro is currently being undertaken by the Turkish company Yapi Merkezi, in partnership with a Portuguese firm, Mota-Engil Africa.