We got on the train to find out to what extent the stated reason for investing 120 million U.S Dollars of Euro-bond money had been achieved.
The money was meant to be invested in rolling stock (trains – locomotives, coaches, etc) thereby improving services and most importantly the speed at which the trains moved.
Was this achieved? Here is what we found.
The specific question checked by the ACA Fact-checking was “Did the Investment of the US$120 million increase the passenger train speed to 80Km/h and improve the rolling stock.”
♻️ Process
A member of the ACA Fact-checking Unit took a trip on the Zambia Railways Golden Jubilee-Michael Chilufya Sata Express passenger train from Lusaka to Livingstone, on Saturday 25th January 2020 and travelled back on the Monday 27th January 2020. The aim of the trip was to verify the speed at which the train travelled and the state of the carriages and services, both which should have been improved by the USD 120 million share of the first Euro-bond allocated to Zambia Railways.
🔍🔎Findings
The train left Lusaka at 09:23hrs on Saturday 25th January 2020 and arrived in Livingstone at 04:08hrs on Sunday 26th January 2020 taking 18hrs on the rail. On the return trip, the train left Livingstone at 20:24hrs on a Monday 27th January and arrived in Lusaka at 21:28hrs on a Tuesday 28th January 2020 travelling for 24hrs.
Estimation of Speed
Using a speed tracker while on the train, the ACA Fact-checking Unit measured the rate at which the train moved. The tracker showed that the train travelled at an average speed of 20km/h covering an estimated distance of 465.552km with the highest speed attained being 36km/h. The Unit also decided to calculate the speed of the train using the mathematical formula for calculating average speed, which is speed is equal to total distance divided by the total time taken to travel. The calculation below shows that the train on the trip to Livingstone moved at an average speed of 25.86km/h while on the return trip it moved at speed of 19.38km/h. The average speed of both legs of the journey was 22.62 km/h.
On the trip to Livingstone, the train made 37 stops before arriving at the destination. These were (Lilayi, Mapepe, Chipongwe, Kafue, Naluama, Nega Nega, Lubombo, Mazabuka, Kaleya, Magoye, Kaumuzya, Tambero, Kayuni, Monze, Machinga, Chisekesi, Silwili, Pemba, Mukamunga, Muzoka, Nachibanga, Batoka, Sikalongo, Choma, Sibanyati, Tara, Mukwela, Kalomo, Chilesha, Bowwood, Mayoba, Zimba, Simwami, Makoli, Kabuyu, Senkobo, Natebe and finally Livingstone).
Condition of the Train
Throughout the journey there were extended stops with poor communication to passengers as to how long they would be stationary. Further, there was no running water on the train, the showers were broken, and the toilets were extremely dirty. As a result, passengers took advantage of the many stoppages the train made to relieve themselves outside on the tracks.
Throughout the journey, there were extended stops with poor communication to passengers as to how long they would be stationary. Further, there was no running water on the train, the showers were broken, and the toilets were extremely dirty. As a result, passengers took advantage of the many stoppages the train made to relieve themselves outside on the tracks.
Conclusion
The fact-finding mission of the ACA Fact-checking unit found that the speed of the train investigated was far below the targeted speed of 80km/h meant to be achieved by the allocation of USD 120 million of the first Eurobond. Further, the rolling stock is in a very poor state.
The ACA Fact-checking unit, therefore, concludes that the investment of $USD 120 million of the first USD 750 million did not achieve its objective.
ACA Fact Checking Unit: Building a Questioning Public.
The ACA Fact-checking Unit is part of the European Union in Zambia ‘Ask Project’ implemented in collaboration with Caritas Zambia