Zimbabwe Railways suspends commuter train service
The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has suspended their commuter train service in Bulawayo until further notice. The suspension of the service follows the imposition of the Level Four Lockdown by the Government from 5 January 2021 to stem the rise in Covid-19 cases.
NRZ has seen it fit to stop running the commuter service from 11 January 2020 to comply with government measures to slow the spread of Covid-19. This is not the first time NRZ has suspended the commuter train service as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the NRZ suspended commuter trains in Bulawayo and inter-city passenger trains during the first wave of the pandemic after the government declared Covid-19 a national disaster.
The passenger train services were suspended for seven months until 2 November 2020 when commuter train services resumed in Bulawayo with services to Emganwini and Cowdray Park following the relaxation of the then existing Covid-19 regulations by the Government.
In taking the decision to suspend the commuter trains, NRZ is complementing government’s efforts to slow the spread of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and cognisant of the fact that the trains can be potential Covid-19 super-spreader hotspots.
The NRZ commuter carried an average of 1 000 passengers a day with more than 50 000 passengers carried on the commuter trains since November 2020.
