By:Nghiinomenwa-vali Erastus
The lack of alternatives for long travel in the country has seen bus operators charging exorbitant prices during the end of the festive period until TransNamibia decided to chip in.
Various holidaymakers and schoolkids were stranded in the northern regions due to inadequate long-distance transport.
In response to the stranded holidaymakers, bus owners decided to exorbitantly increase the transport prices to around N$600, worsening the situation further.
TransNamib, which decided to initiate a festive passenger for various routes, managed to offer an alternative to the limited expensive buses to the holidaymakers back to Windhoek for N$200.
The Villager Business Desk queried the rail utility company of the viability of passenger trains in the medium and long run, given the fuel cost and the ageing locomotives.
The company informed The Villager that passenger trains are not yet rewarding, but the public and economy need them as an alternative form of transport.
“Passenger services is not a commercially viable service for TransNamib and does not contribute significantly to our revenue streams, thus it has always been about serving the communities we operate in as acorporate social responsibility imperative,” TransNamib explained.
The rail service provider’s long-term goal is to be able to provide a sustainable, reliable and safe service to passengers, it said.
According to their plans, TransNamib intends to increase capacity in terms of rolling stock and introduce regular passengers in the future.
Quizzed on whether TransNamib will move permanently in the passenger transporting segment, especially for the route such as Oshikango to southern towns, or will it be demand and festive-driven, the company said they will continue to run special passenger train services during peak seasons, dependent on its locomotive capacity as well as the condition of the tracks.
“Our locomotive capacity limits us from introducing a regular service, but we are working towards increasing the capacity in terms of rolling stock so that we can resume regular and reliable passenger services,” TransNamib pointed out.
It said the downside risk is the railway tracks that are prone to weather changes, especially during flooding periods which at times can significantly impact the railway.
“We foresee that we will in the future be able to re-introduce a regular passenger service,” TransNamib promised.
