47 Years and Still Waiting: Harare-Chitungwiza Train Frustration Exposes Zimbabwe’s Infrastructure Crisis
By HRH Princess Eugenie Majuru, 15 October 2025 in Africa International News Slider
HARARE – The dream of a functional rail link connecting Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, with its sprawling dormitory town, Chitungwiza, remains firmly derailed. For decades, this promised infrastructure project—essential for commuting and economic vitality—has existed only as survey pegs and broken promises. The palpable frustration over this stagnant development was recently captured by Taurai Charinhas, a Zimbabwean based in the UK, whose personal timeline powerfully illustrates the scale of the failure.
The Decades-Long Wait: A Generation Lost
Mr. Charinhas recalls the initial excitement of the project’s inception: “I remember how the area was pegged years ago when I was in Grade 5, at that time 10 years old.” That moment of promise, intended to signify modernization, now serves as a painful marker of national stagnation.
“Now I am 47 years old and am almost having vazukuru (grandchildren), we are still waiting,” he noted bitterly. The difference between a 10-year-old’s memory of surveyors walking the line and a 47-year-old’s reality of continued congestion highlights an unforgivable gap in governance. The rail service, they were told, “will move this way and that way,” but the physical movement of the train has never materialized, even into 2025.
Rail Infrastructure: The Engine of Economic Efficiency
Mr. Charinhas correctly emphasizes the vital role of rail in a modern economy. The establishment of an efficient rail service is not merely a convenience; it is a fundamental economic driver:
Goods Transport: Rail transport is typically cheaper, more effective, and more fuel-efficient for moving large volumes of goods over long distances. A functional Harare-Chitungwiza line would decongest roads and drastically cut the costs of transporting goods, lowering prices for consumers.
Commuter Efficiency: An operational service would revolutionize commuting for thousands of residents in Chitungwiza, reducing reliance on expensive and often hazardous road transport, thereby improving productivity and quality of life.
Charinhas added, “Rail service helps to move or drive the economy… it makes things run efficiently.” The failure to deliver this crucial artery demonstrates a severe lack of commitment to the efficiency needed to sustain a rapidly growing urban population.
Commentary: A Crisis of Seriousness and Regional Comparison
Mr. Charinhas’s frustration is more than personal; it reflects a national crisis of policy follow-through and investment seriousness.
Zimbabwe cannot afford to be complacent in the face of regional infrastructure development. As Charinhas points out, “Right now we see many other countries doing good travel road and rail networks even air travel has improved across Africa.”
While countries like Ethiopia have commissioned modern electric railways, and Kenya and Tanzania have invested heavily in Standard Gauge Rail networks to boost logistics, Zimbabwe’s National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) system continues to operate on decades-old, dilapidated infrastructure. The failure to complete the Harare-Chitungwiza line is symptomatic of a broader decay where promises are made for political gain, only to be abandoned due to lack of funding, corruption, or political will.
The government’s repeated failure to move beyond the “peg-and-promise” phase on a project of this significance sends a negative message to both citizens and potential foreign investors. Economic development requires tangible commitment to infrastructure—the tracks on which the economy runs. When a project remains stalled for nearly 40 years, it signals a systemic failure to be “serious” about development.
The people of Chitungwiza and Harare deserve a functional mass transit system. Until the government replaces empty words with steel and rail, the Harare-Chitungwiza line will remain a monument to missed opportunity and a devastating example of how failed governance can rob citizens of economic progress for generations.
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