I was surprised to hear Tilburgers complaining about their railway system last week. Before you complain too loudly, let me tell you about the National Railways of Zimbabwe.
Our trains never run on time. They are always overcrowded and filthy dirty, and often the seats collapse when you sit on them. They are terribly slow and they run very infrequently. For example, a journey of 300 kms from the capital city Harare to our third largest city, Mutare, is available only once a day. It is supposed to take nine hours but often the train arrives three or four hours late. There are frequent delays, never just a few minutes, but always a few hours. The longer journeys are always scheduled overnight – and often the train runs out of food and water completely.
I recently experienced a delay on a train journey from Tilburg to the Hague when there was a problem between Den Bosch and Rotterdam. The train was delayed for just over an hour and I was told that I could get my money back as a result. This is unheard of in Zimbabwe. You never get your money back – even if the train is delayed by six or more hours. Sometimes the train is cancelled after you have bought your ticket. But there is no refund. You simply keep your ticket and travel another day.
The synchronization of the railway system here is also wonderful to me. Traveling to Amsterdam, I was amazed how, within minutes of arriving in Den Bosch, another train was available on the adjacent platform to continue my journey.
It is no wonder that with such a convenient system, many people commute to work. This is another interesting phenomenon for me. In Zimbabwe, people live as close as possible to where they work. It would be impossible to rely on the public transport system to get to work every day on time. Here, people choose where they want to live and then travel from there to their workplace.
The bus system seems just as excellent as the railways, although I have not yet got used to it in Tilburg as I travel mostly on my bicycle. And that’s another wonderful thing – the bicycle system, including the special roads for bicycles and the respect that motorists show to cyclists.
In Harare it is extremely dangerous to ride a bicycle. There are no special roads for cyclists and motorists generally regard them as a nuisance.
Of course, the Netherlands is internationally renown for the efficiency of its transport networks, and the port of Rotterdam in particular. I was amazed to learn that 90% of the flowers grown in the world are flown to Holland, auctioned here, and then dispatched to markets across the globe.
One has a sense here not only of being well and truly in the first world – but perhaps in the very transport centre of that world.
All columns by Wilf Mbanga
| Wilf Mbanga, one of the founders of the independent Zimbabwean daily newspaper "The Daily News", is currently living in Tilburg, the Netherlands. He writes about the differences between Tilburg and Harare. His column is printed weekly in "Het Brabants Dagblad". |
