Cavendish University Zambia

CAVENDISH UNIVERSITY ZAMBIA

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

A STUDY TO ASSESS THE CURRENT STATE OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEM AS A MEANS FOR ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN ZAMBIA. A CASE OF ZAMBIA RAILWAYS.

RUTH SANDALA (002-836) AND SUPERVISOR: MS MARY BANDA

A Research Proposal Submitted To Cavendish University In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements Of A Bachelor Of Arts Degree In Development Studies.

1 MAY, 2020

Copyright Declaration All rights reserved. No part of this research proposal may be reproduced or stored in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing from the author or Cavendish University.

Declaration I declare that this Dissertation has been written by me and it is a record of my research work. It has not been presented in any previous award elsewhere. The sources of information have been duly acknowledged and referenced.

Student: Ruth Sandala (002-836)

Signature: …………………………. Date: …......

Supervisor: Ms. Mary Banda

Signature: …………………………. Date: …......

Dedication I would like to dedicate this work to my late parents Mr and Mrs Sandala for impacting me with great values and knowledge, may you continue to rest in eternal peace.

I would also like to dedicate this work to my lovely Grandma Ms Ruth Sandala for been a hero and a pillar of strength in my life, God continue blessings

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Acknowledgements First and foremost, I give thanks to God Almighty for having brought me this far. His strength and grace has been my pillar and source of comfort and encouragement throughout my academic life.

My appreciation also goes to Cavendish University Zambia School of social sciences academic staff for impacting on me valuable knowledge and great perseverance skills. I am greatly indebted to my supervisor miss Mary Banda for her guidance, encouragement and moral support throughout my research work.

To my family back home, thank you for all the love and support. My sister Abigail S Mwape, my brother in-law Mr. Mwape, thank you for the financial support and taking me in when I needed you the most, without you my life wouldn’t be where it is today, may the almighty God continue to richly bless you. To my Grandma Miss Ruth Sandala, thank you for always been a pillar of my strength and for always believing in me may God continue to bless greatly.

To the class of 2016; Musonda, Hazveneyi, Chitwale, Joseph and Chipo, you people have been amazing thank you for making my academic life so easy and fun. I will always cherish the great moments we spent together and pray that we may link up again out there. Thank you to all my friends out there for always been there for me and pushing me to do great throughout this project love you guys so much.

Table of Content

Contents Copyright Declaration ...... i Declaration ...... ii Dedication ...... iii Acknowledgements ...... iv Table of Content ...... v List of Abbreviations ...... viii CHAPTER ONE ...... 1 1.0 Introduction ...... 1 1.2 Study Background ...... 1 1.2 Statement of The Problem...... 4 1.3 General Objective ...... 5 1.3.1 Specific Objectives ...... 5 1.4 Research Questions ...... 5 1.5 Rationale For The Research ...... 5 CHAPTER TWO ...... 7 LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 7 2.0 Introduction ...... 7 2.1 Overview of Zambia Railway System ...... 7 2.2 The current state of railway infrastructure system in Zambia ...... 8 2.2.1 Freight Services ...... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.2.2 Railway Infrastructure ...... 10 2.2.3 Railway Infrastructure Maintenance and Management ...... 11 2.3 Regulation and institutional framework guiding railway infrastructure management ...... 11 2.4 Challenges of Infrastructure Maintenance and Management In Africa ...... 12 2.5 Challenges faced in the maintenance and management of infrastructure in Zambia ...... 13

2.5.4 Poor state of the railway line...... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.6 Railway System Infrastructure In Other Countries ...... 17 2.6.1 South African Railway System (Transnet Freight Rail (TFR)) ...... 17 2.6.1.1 TRF Challenges ...... 18 2.6.2 Railway System Infrastructure in China (CRC)...... 19 2.6.2.1 China Railway Infrastructures ...... 20 2.7 Research Gaps ...... 21 2.8 Theoretical Framework ...... 23 2.8.1 Transportation infrastructure Theory ...... 23 CHAPTER THREE ...... 25 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...... 26 3.0 Introduction ...... 26 3.1 Research Approach ...... 26 3.2 Research Design ...... 26 3.3 Study Population ...... 27 3.4 Sample...... 27 3.5 Sample Size ...... 27 3.6 Research Sampling Method ...... 27 3.7 Data Collection Techniques and Tools ...... 28 3.8 Data Analysis ...... 28 3.9 Limitations ...... 29 Appendices ...... 50 Appendix I: The Budget ...... 50 Appendix II: Activity Plan ...... 51 Bibliography ...... 55

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Performance of ZRL in freight tonnes between 2002 and 2013……………………10

Figure 2.2: conceptual framework (source: field survey-Author, 2020)……………………….24

Figure 4.3: availability of wagons and locomotives (source: field survey-Author, 2020)……..33

Figure 4.4: general condition of the railway infrastructure (source: field survey, 2020)………36

Figure 4.5: source of railway infrastructure development (source: field survey, 2020)………..38

Figure 4.5: challenges affecting the railway system (source: field survey-Author, 2020)……..38

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: distribution of respondent by sex (source: field survey, 2020)……………………..30

Table 4.2: distribution of respondents by age (source: field survey, 2020)……………………..31

Table 4.3: level of education (source: field survey- Author, 2020)……………………………..31

Table 4.4: working experience (source: field survey-Author, 2020)……………………………31

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List of Abbreviations

CRC Railway System Infrastructure in China

GDP Gross Domestic Product

IDPs Integrated Development Plans

ITPs Integrated Transport Plans

RBCT Richards Bay Coal Terminal

RSZ Railway Systems of Zambia Limited

SDPs Spatial Development Plans

TFR Transnet Freight Rail

TAZARA Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority

ZRL Zambia Railways Limited

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ABSTRACT

The focus of this research is in the area of railway infrastructure maintenance and management. The maintenance and management of railway infrastructure plays a central role in ensuring the reliability and availability of rail transport. In a highly competitive transport market, the rail industry is required to employ new and innovative maintenance strategies that will position rail transport as an affordable and reliable transportation alternative. This can be realized through implementing maintenance strategies that prioritize efficient resource allocation

In the study, a sample of 50 respondents was selected. Questions were used to guide the interview schedule. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and was presented and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings were then interpreted in relation to research objectives and questions.

The findings of the study were able to demonstrate on which aspect of the strategic infrastructure investments projects were implemented in priority corridors. Some of the aspects which have been implemented include track rehabilitation, new signal equipment and station upgrades in priority corridors. However, there were challenges that were experienced during the implementation. The study findings revealed that funding of the programme implementation is one of shortcomings that delayed the implementation of the national rail plan. Other findings include the lack of capacity and technical skills; and lack of leadership in implementing the strategic projects in the priority corridors. The study recommends that for sustainable rail operations, funding should be mobilized, ZRL structure should be realigned and the rail regulatory framework should be finalized.

Key words: railway infrastructure, maintenance, railway systems

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 Introduction Transport infrastructure includes transit-oriented structures and facilities for signage and markings, safety, lighting, communication, landscaping, navigation and maintenance. Infrastructure in Africa is generally in a poor state due to major problems taking the form of under-maintenance, budget execution failures, and substantial hidden costs. Transport infrastructure specifically Railways in Zambia is no exception to this ominous experience.

Railway system is a vital service to global society and transport backbone of a sustainable economy as well as an essential causal agent of development of any country. Today, it is a proven fact that the railway infrastructure is a key element for adding speed and efficiency to a country’s progress. Rail transport generally has the advantage for large-volume long-haul freight operations. Because of the large amount of fixed costs required for rail infrastructure development, rail operations exhibit significant economies of scale. (World Bank 2010).

1.1 Study Background Zambia Railway Limited network was built during colonial rule as part of the vision of the cape Cairo railway linking all the British colonies of Africa and the economic spur was to access the mines of central Africa. The railway started as part of Rhodesian Railways, the company which ran the railways of Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia as an integrated operation. The Railway arrived in the future Zambia early in 1905 when the 150km livingstone-kalomo line was built. The first wagons on the line were hauled by oxen, and then a single locomotive was conveyed in pieces by cable across the gorge where the bridge was being built. The line reached broken hill in 1906 and Ndola in the copper belt in 1909 connecting to Sakania in the congo DR. in the mid- 1960s the newly independent Zambia split its Railways off from Rhodesia Railways, and Zambia Railways came into being. Now Zambia Railway Limited is mandated under the Railways Act to operate freight and passenger Trains. Therefore, ZRL was set up to be the main carrier of mining raw materials and Products (kapanda, 2017).

The rail transport sector is one area which has not received attention following the liberalization of the road passenger service by Government since 1992. This was even worsened by the

1 removal of duty on importation of passenger transport vehicles in 1993, which saw an influx of buses. As a result, there was a drop in rail passenger and freight transport to Northern, Southern and Copperbelt Provinces as roads were now rehabilitated and the public felt that it was quicker and safer to move by road. However, Government engaged foreign expatriates to manage Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) until 2003 when the company was concessioned to New Limpopo Investments, who eventually established the Railway Systems of Zambia Limited (RSZ). After nine (9) years of being operational, the government cancelled the concession agreement with railway system of Zambia due to the fact that RSZ failed to invest in the maintenance and renewal of infrastructure leading to detoriation of state owned assets, unacceptable level of derailment, and poor safety (Kasoma and Bernadette, 2019).

The ZR system passes through Southern, Central and Copperbelt provinces intersecting the country almost into two halves. Along this line were grouped most of the country’s major economic activities such as commerce, industry, agriculture and mining sectors. At inception, ZR comprised a main line of 848 kilometres. The line stretched from the Zimbabwe border in the south east of the country; extending northwards through Livingstone, Kalomo, Choma, Monze, Mazabuka, Kafue, Lusaka, Kabwe, Kapiri Mposhi and Ndola up to the border with the DRC (former Zaire) at Sakania. In addition, ZR operated some 186 kilometres of branch lines on the Copperbelt connecting most of the major mining towns. The other branch lines are in Southern province. These are Livingstone-Mulobezi branch line which is 168 kilometres and the Choma- Masuku branch line with a distance of 65 kilometres (ZR archives, 1990).

The Patriotic Front (Pf) under Michael Chilufya Sata’s leadership made some substantial changes to the railway sector. The PF government repositioned and expanded the railway sector to significantly contribute to the country’s transport needs, particularly the long distance passenger and goods traffic. The government through the Zambia Railways Limited revitalized the mulobezi and Nacal Corridors links to provide reliable and cost effective bulk transportation for the agricultural, mining and energy sectors as well as passengers. The aim for the pf government under the late Michael sata’s leadersip, was to ensure that the country becomes the hub for regional business transactions and thereby accelerate economic development. The five main railway spurs which were proposed to be developed were; the chingola to chimbe line in

2 the north western part of the country, the kafue lion den line, livingstone to katima-mulilo line, the chipata to mpika line, and the Nseluka to Mpulungu line. (Lusaka voice 2014)

Tanzania/Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) which is co-owned by Governments of Zambia and Tanzania is another key railway. It covers approximately 1,900 km from Kapiri-Mposhi Zambia to Dares- slam in Tanzania8. From 1964, discussions took place about a proposed railway line between Tanzania and Zambia. As Great Britain had not shown any interest in the proposal, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) came to the rescue and provided financial and technical assistance. The PRC Government sponsored construction of the railway specifically to eliminate Zambia’s economic dependence on Rhodesia and South Africa.

The contractual foundations were closed in 1967, and one year later, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA) was established, as a condominium railway owned by Tanzania and Zambia (TAZARA, 2001).

1.1.1 Zambia Railways: Freight Facilities, Services and Performance from 1967-1991.

From inception ZR was given a huge responsibility of transporting bulk goods for Zambia. It provided transport services to the country’s principle industries such as mining, agriculture, manufacturing and commerce. In the late 1980s the performance of ZRL in terms of total freight movements was in excess of 5 million tonnes per year. Bank of Zambia (1981) reported that 1,070,909 metric of tones of foreign traffic was moved by rail, and passenger traffic also fell tremendously to 177,097 in 2011 though it improved to 192,608 in 2013. However there has been a steady decline due to poor railway infrastructure and maintenance, the development of markets was limited, reduced mobility and exacerbated the consequences of food crisis. (Mwila and Mwanaumo, 2016).

1.1.1.1 Railway Freight Services

Railway transport has lost its market share of freight to road transport even in market segments that could be better served by railway transport such as bulk cargo. Currently, railway freight services in Zambia do not fully meet the demand by the industry with respect to capacity, lead times and reliability as required by the industry. As a result, the performance of both ZRL and TAZARA has decreased.

1.1.1.2 Railway Passenger services

Passenger train fares are on average 150% lower than what bus operators charge, but the quality of the service is lower than that of buses. The operating costs of passenger trains are on average twice as much as the revenue generated such that to offer services at the current fares requires massive subsidies. Further, the only urban rail network is dilapidated. Therefore, densely populated areas such as Lusaka and Kitwe are not served by any means of rail commuter services. Despite the current inefficiencies in railway passenger services, there is potential for increased demand for intercity railway passenger services as the railway infrastructure and rolling stock get modernized.

1.2 Statement of the Problem Zambia like many other sub Saharan African countries has made efforts to increase the volume of railway transport but has not been successful due to the poor conditions of the railway infrastructure, insufficient rehabilitation and maintenance and general low investments. For many years, investment in the development and maintenance of the railway infrastructure has not been prioritized. The reduction in copper traffic from the 1970s initiated a vicious circle of decline for the railways. Lower revenues meant fewer funds for maintenance and investment. Deferral of maintenance led to the progressive deterioration of the rail infrastructure. As a result, derailments became increasingly frequent and speed, reliability and security as well as economic activities all declined, damaging customer confidence in the railways.

In order to increase the effectiveness, efficiency and competitiveness of railway transport, there is a need for effective management of the infrastructure. Setting objectives, making strategies and managing the system need to be carried out in close cooperation with all parties involved, in order to avoid sub optimization. A holistic and integrated approach is needed to consider demands of all stakeholders (Parida and Chattopadhyay, 2007; Coetzee, 1999). The complexity and the regulated environment compels the infrastructure manager to consider all related factors and obstacles and be prepared to deal with all the issues and challenges to act in a proactive manner (Espling and Kumar, 2004).

In a nutshell, being located in the center of South African region and being a mineral producer, Zambia is heavily dependent on its transport network connoting it to various export and import

4 destination and railways are the leading transportation mode for goods on the international and local routes. But ever since independence, to the concession period up to date, Zambia’s Railway System has been operating below the actually designed capacity. Hence, the need to carry out a study to assess whether the existing Railway Infrastructure System is an efficient means of economic activities in Zambia.

1.3 General Objective To assess the current state of Railway Infrastructure System as a means for Economic Activities in Zambia.

1.3.1 Specific Objectives 1. To assess the current state of railway infrastructure in Zambia.

2. To examine policies and strategies for the maintenance and management of Zambia Railways infrastructure

3. To establish the challenges that Zambia Railways has been facing in facilitating and maintaining the railway infrastructure

1.4 Research Questions 1. What is the current state of railway infrastructure in Zambia?

2. What strategies and policies are in place for the maintenance and management of Zambia Railways infrastructure?

3. What challenges have occurred in facilitating and maintaining of the railway infrastructure?

1.5 Rationale for the Research The rationale for undertaking this study lies in identifying some of the factors that might have contributed to the present state of the rail infrastructure in Zambia. Additionally, the study will investigate how these factors have affected the patterns of rail use in Zambia. The significance of ZR in Zambia’s economic activities has received brief and insufficient examination by scholars. It is also hoped that this study, which has raised a number of issues relating to ZR will provide

5 valuable information and benchmark literature to scholars who may wish to carry out further studies related to the subject in question.

This study builds on this knowledge and presents insight on the important role of railway infrastructure development on socioeconomic activities in Zambia. Understanding the importance of ZR in the economic development of Zambia would also help people in general and those in authority in particular, to appreciate the value of rail systems. It serves as a guide in considering the importance of regional and international benefits of Zambia Railway infrastructure system and not only national considerations.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW, THEORETICAL, & CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

2.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter seeks to review literature on Railway Infrastructure System. It intends to discuss on the subjects related to the research topic. The subjects will be reviewed as follows; Overview of Zambia Railway System, the state of the existing railway infrastructure system in Zambia, Regulation and institutional framework guiding railway infrastructure management, Challenges of Infrastructure Maintenance and Management, The research gap, Theoretical Framework, and conceptual Framework.

It presents the empirical and theoretical literature on infrastructure maintenance and management as an instrument for economic activities. In order to improve the understanding of the subject, the chapter will look at the experiences of other countries with regards to railway infrastructure systems.

2.1 Overview of Zambia Railway System The railway system in Zambia comprises of an extensive network of surface transport with the potential to offer safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly transport across the country and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, connecting all major centers of economic activity and facilitating growth. According to the Ministry of Transport and Communications (2013), The ZRL network stretches over a distance of 1, 062 km from the Victoria Falls in Livingstone to Chililabombwe on the Copperbelt. The mainline which is cape gauge is about 848 km long while the branch lines cover an estimated length of 214 km. Notable railway branches include the Maamba railway used mainly for transporting coal from Maamba to Copperbelt via Choma, and the Mulobezi Railway which links to the mainline in Livingstone used for timber transportation.

The ZR mainline is of strategic importance to Zambia because it is a major part of the North South Corridor under the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) transport infrastructure master plan. The master plan seeks to link landlocked southern Africa countries to the west and east coasts (SADC, 2012). This is advantageous for Zambia in its undertaking to become the regional transportation hub. It provides potential routes to the alternative ports

7 including Durban in South Africa, Walvis Bay in Namibia and Maputo and Beira and Nacala in Mozambique (Ministry of Transport and Communications, 2013).

However, the railway systems network in Zambia has been operating at a sub optimal level compared to its capacity. Firstly, there is lack of integration among railway companies within the region who have opted to operate as autonomous entities. Secondly, the railway traffic dwindled to current levels following the deregulation of road transport in the region, due to high fixed costs, low investments in rail track infrastructure, working capital and rolling stock (

TAZARA on the other hand was established by the Tanzania Zambia Railway Act of 1975 and developed using funding from China. It is jointly owned by the Zambian and Tanzanian Governments. Unlike ZR, TAZARA was never privatized.

The TAZARA network covers an approximate distance of 2, 060 km. The mainline between Kapiri-Mposhi and the Tanzanian Port of Dar es Salaam is about 1,860 km while the Zambian side between Kapiri-Mposhi and Nakonde covers an approximate distance of 860 km. TAZARA is also part of the North-South corridor. It links the Dar-es-Salaam port to the Transnet Railways of South Africa through Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The Maputo Corridor links Zambia to South Africa and Mozambique while Port Nacala (Nacala Development Corridor) will be linked to TAZARA in Serenje via the Chipata-Mchinji route (National Assembly, 2014) (SADC, 2012).

2.2 state of the existing railway infrastructure in Zambia Over the years, the infrastructure, standards and routing system inherited by the ZRL, has severely eroded. If the railway network had been setup as a two way primary and secondary conduit for exporting raw materials agricultural produce and finished goods and importing goods and equipment, it would not have deteriorated to its current state. Zambia’s railway infrastructure has deteriorated overtime due to lack of maintenance and rehabilitation, resulting in reduced speeds and long transit time. Due to the dilapidation of infrastructure of the ZR, most countries that were interconnected to its railway network regionally, have been greatly affected (ADB, 2013). This poor state of railway infrastructure was one of the reasons Government decided to privatize ZR in 2003. The concessionaire (Railway Systems of Zambia) had pledged to invest over US$ 64 million to maintain and rehabilitate the infrastructure and rolling stock but that was

8 not realized. After the termination of the concession in 2013, Government started to invest in infrastructure improvement using part of the funds from the first euro-bond. By 2015 about 117 out of the 442 km tracks allocated for rehabilitation had been completed and 113 km were still expected to be completed by the end of the year. Per se the main rail is laid on concrete slippers where rehabilitations have been completed and wooden slippers elsewhere. Branch lines are mainly laid on steel slippers. However, train speeds are currently still as low as 25 km per hour. 2.2.1 Condition of Railway Equipment Despite a considerable level of repair and maintenance of locomotives and wagons carried out to improve freight and passenger services at both ZRL and TAZARA, the current state of equipment is still insufficient compared to international standards (AFBD, 2015). For instance in the past decade (2005-2015), TAZARA operated at least six trains per week. In addition, the number of passengers per year has sharply declined from around 1,090,359 to almost half (491,826) due to lack of serviceable stock, frequent breakdowns and lack of comfort for passengers (http://www.railwaygazette.com). The situation at ZRL is similar to TAZARA. According to the ZRL five (5) year strategic business plan (2014-2018), an estimated US$ 400 million will be required to upgrade and maintain the state of railway equipment. These funds will also be used to procure 2, 600 wagons, 13 locomotives and acquisition of the latest technology in rail transport which will lead to safer rail network(ZRL, 2014). 2.2.2 Quality of Services The massive deterioration of rail infrastructure and rolling stock and lack of adequate rehabilitation and maintenance has led to declining service delivery and reduced passenger and freight volumes overtime. Railway transport has lost its market share of freight to road transport even in market segments that could be better served by railway transport such as bulk cargo. Currently, railway freight services in Zambia do not fully meet the demand by the industry with respect to capacity, lead times and reliability as required by the industry. As a result, the performance of both ZRL and TAZARA has decreased.

9 massive subsidies. Further, the only urban rail network is dilapidated. Therefore, densely populated areas such as Lusaka and Kitwe are not served by any means of rail commuter services. Despite the current inefficiencies in railway passenger services, there is potential for increased demand for intercity railway passenger services as the railway infrastructure and rolling stock get modernized. In the late 1980s the performance in terms of freight movements was averaging about 4.6 million tonnes per annum (ZRL, 1990). However in the subsequent years there has been a steady decline in both freight and passengers. Figure 1.1 exemplifies this decline in terms of freight traffic on ZRL which had dropped from 1,719,792 tonnes in 2002 to 732,284 tonnes in 2013:

Figure 2.1: Performance in tonnes from 2002 to 2013

Source: (ZRL, 2014)

2.2.2 Railway Infrastructure Railway infrastructure is broadly defined as a structure that includes buildings and equipment, together with the corresponding land, located on the railway premises designed for the

10 management, passenger freight transport and maintenance of the infrastructure. A definition of railway infrastructure as given by the European community regulation 2598/1970 comprises routes, tracks, and fixed installations that enable the safe circulation of trains. This definition lists a few of railway infrastructure items ranging from signal systems, power systems, engineering structures (bridges, culverts), and track structures such as turnouts and tunnels.

2.2.3 Railway Infrastructure Maintenance and Management The maintenance and management of railway infrastructure plays a central role in ensuring the reliability and availability of rail transport. In a highly competitive transport market, the rail industry is required to employ new and innovative maintenance strategies that will position rail transport as an affordable and reliable transportation alternative. This can be realized through implementing maintenance strategies that prioritize efficient resource allocation. Application of reliability-based techniques to make informed decisions in maintenance management, with an overall aim of reducing operational expenditure while maintaining safety and efficiency, has been increasing. The management of railway infrastructure involves a range of activities such as building, inspection, maintenance, enhancement, and renewal aimed at optimizing the performance, risks, and costs of the infrastructure. This is a highly complex decision-making environment that requires various trade-offs. Furthermore, the relationship between the timing and choice of activities for multiple assets needs to be taken into account to achieve the required performance levels. Significant efforts have been made to develop decision support tools based on cost, risk, and reliability to assist with decision-making in highly complex asset management environments. When analyzed from a facilities and infrastructure perspective, infrastructure management can be seen as a framework that facilitates informed decision-making in maintaining, upgrading and operation of physical assets.

2.3 Regulation and institutional framework guiding railway infrastructure management The setting of a fundamental basis for railway infrastructure development is dependent on a strong regulatory and institutional framework that preserves its investment. The formulation and implementation of more appropriate policies and regulations depending on the degree of closeness government participants have in the structure of the railway industry. Regulation and legal system are set in some countries to observe safety concerns, corruption, and market

11 performance. The success of a regulatory framework strongly depends on the relationship between authorities and operators. Anreiter (2000) writes that “The regulatory framework determines the way in which transport services are designed, planned and produced. The definition of transparent rules for the allocation of responsibilities and the sharing of risks between the different agents of the system is thus an indispensable tool for the management of public transport. Operators from different modes and authorities from different legal entities have to coexist both in time and space.” The Act 1955 which established the Nigerian Railway Corporation is an example. But, it needed to be revoked in order to allow sufficient competent and robust system, market participation, and competition development. In Ghana, the Railway Act 2008, which was ratified by the President’s Office on January 6, 2009, has established the Ghana Railway Development Authority as a statutory body in charge of the development of the railway and promotion of railway services, management and operation of railway assets as well as construction and improvement of urban railways. However, in Zambia where railways are public enterprises, no regulatory body exists.

2.4 Challenges of Infrastructure Maintenance and Management in Africa The infrastructure in Africa is in general inadequate and of poor quality when compared to Europe and North America. The problems are certainly not simply a lack of investment per se but also often reflect inadequate levels of maintenance of that which is provided and the use that is permitted of it. But within this general framework there are wide variations between countries and regions within them and between rural and urban areas more generally. In this latter context, for example, a recent study by Fishbein (2001) observes that quality of the infrastructure of Africa has certainly impeded its ability to compete in the global market. The share of Sub- Saharan Africa in global exports was 3.1% in the mid-1950s but by 1990 this had fallen to 1.2%. A major problem in Africa is the movement of exports (often raw materials) to ports because of the poor quality of the national transportation networks that they must transverse. Infrastructure is but a small part of this whole but it is nevertheless an important part. Transportation, in particular, is vital to allow physical interactions and trade between countries. For this reason, it was no accident that when the European Union was formed in the late 1950s, one of the two major common policies contained within the Treaty of Rome was that for a Common Transport Policy.

An effective assessment of railway transport needs is important before setting up targets for passenger or cargo freight. Wittke (2011) explain that growth of railway transport sector is determined by amount of cargo and passengers being carried by railway system in a given country. More demand for huge volumes of cargo and passengers is translated into growth of railway sector. But again deliberate efforts to assess challenges affecting railway transport is important in evaluating railway performance and profitability. Information generated during such assessment will inform strategies to improve operations and decisions to invest. Sustainable review of railway services will support improved cargo and passenger transport and finally railway transport contribution to the economic growth (Firzli and Nicolas, 2013).

2.5 CHALLENGES FACED IN THE MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE IN ZAMBIA Many railways in the world have been facing keen competition from highway carriers over past decades. Some railways have even suffered from a major decline in the market share and failed to adopt effective strategies to correct the situation (Lan and Lin, 2006). By 1990 most of the Sub-Saharan African railways were in virtual bankruptcy, requiring permanent cash injection and large investments in infrastructure and rolling stock (Olievschi, 2013). This is still the case for Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL). When Zambia Railways Limited was being concessioned to Railway Systems of Zambia in 2003, most of the railway infrastructure was of some good standard although there was still a lot of concern about the state of the rail line. About 62 percent of the rail network had been fully rehabilitated with concrete sleepers by the time of concessioning in December, 2003. However, most of the sections in this portion were currently in a deplorable state due to broken sleepers. As the concessionaire failed to achieve its intended goals of improving the rail infrastructure, the Government of the Republic of Zambia repossessed the Company in September, 2012, with a lot of challenges. The Zambia Railway Sector lacks reliability and has outdated infrastructure characterized by poor maintenance. Generally, there have been poor conditions of the rail track infrastructure and low investments in assets and working capital. ZRL rolling stock is characterized with over- aged wagons and locomotives (average age is 40 years) which lack air brake system.

The (2014) Parliamentary Committee Report indicated that Zambia Rail network was generally on rotten wooden sleepers and only a few isolated areas were on concrete sleepers. Even the areas which were on concrete sleepers had sections with broken concrete sleepers. The branch lines were generally on wooden sleepers, steel sleepers and concrete sleepers in some scanty areas, whilst the wooden sleepers in all the yard lines were not in good condition. The lack of reliability of rail transport has been consistently mentioned by firms as the main reason for using road transport. Frequent train delays and cancellations had prompted customers to switch to road haulage, especially for transportation of high-value goods, and timing is important (Lusaka: Parliament of Zambia, 2014). Rail shipments have also been criticized for lacking proper security. The Zambia Chamber of Mines has not only condemned the rail infrastructure in the country’s Copperbelt Province as being in poor state of repair, but also indicated that it lacked capacity and adequate security provision to guarantee safety of shipments (Duncan Pieterse, 2016).

The other challenges faced include: 2.5.1 Financing The weak financial performance of railways in Zambia is the major threat to the future development of the railway sector. The railway sector in Zambia cannot achieve the development goals expected by governments as long as the railway companies are financially non-viable. Olievschi (2013), reports that various analyses developed by the world bank indicate that Zambian railways infrastructure is in a deplorable state due to lack of financial capacity to rehabilitate and maintain the infrastructure as maintenance and rehabilitation requires a lot of capital. 2.5.1.1Investments For many years, investment in the development and maintenance of the railway infrastructure has not been prioritized. Table 1 below compares the government spending allocations to infrastructure development and recapitalization of railways between 2009 and 2016.

Table 1.1: Investment Spending Allocations for the Railway Sector (ZMW million)

Spending Function 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Support to Railway - - 1.61 1.41 2.95 1.00 - - Institutions Operations

Railway Infrastructure - 6.01 1.60 1.35 2.58 2.00 - - Development

Railway recapitalization - - - 30.52 619.31 339.80 - - and Investment

Total Railway Investment - 6.01 1.60 31.87 621.89 341.80 - -

GRZ Roads Spending 1,356.90 1,461.20 3,098.00 4,481.00 3,434.00 5,126.90 5,626.51 6,629.40

(Source: Transport and Infrastructure Development Unit, 2016)

It is clear from the Table that railway investment is neglected with some years having no spending allocation for rail for both operations and investment even in the absence of equity partners. The highest spending allocation to the railway subsector in the past decade was in 2013 when ZMW 619.31 million was allocated. These funds proceeded from the debutant euro bond and were aimed towards recapitalization and investment. In that way the total investment expenditure for railways neared 19% of the spending allocation towards the road subsector.

The result of the sparing investment in the railway subsector has been drastic reduction in the capacities of the tracks and the rolling stock, deterioration of services and widening of the investment gap for all railway systems in the country. This has led to lack of extension of major railway lines to new mining areas, hence the limited share of railway freight compared to road.

2.5.2 Transport policy

The national government usually enacts legislation that applies to the delivery of public transport services, although some countries allow their provincial and local governments to make their own statutes and regulations (Meakin, 2004). This need to comply with national policies which Meakin (2004) describes as “Policies are the basic, universal principles that should guide and govern choices, decisions and actions. Policies address the questions ‘what?’ and ‘why?'”

Transport policies are necessary goals and objectives for which performance measures need to be developed so that plans, strategies and operations can be assessed. Transport policies should be formulated in such a way that they will improve the quality of the transport system for commuters. Countries usually have different transport policies that are based on the socioeconomic, demographic and geographic conditions and context of a city, although many cities have similar goals and objectives.

There is no separate national Railway transport Policy guiding the railway sector in Zambia. The absence of a comprehensive rail policy is part of the institutional heritage of the rail sector, and this has given the state-owned enterprises in the sector a very high degree of independent control, albeit within state ownership. In order to plan effectively for the future of the rail sector, it is necessary to establish consensus about what is expected of the rail sector, as well as of the industry and institutional structures that will make it possible to achieve these goals (ZR, 2018).

Inadequate provisioning of railway track materials and equipment The procurement and supply of all essential materials was inconsistent and too slow as most of these materials such as concrete sleeper fastenings, track tools, rails as well as concrete sleepers were all foreign procured. Of all these, the most erratic were the concrete sleeper fittings. The only concrete sleeper plant in Zambia does not have the capacity to supply the demand of 665,000 concrete sleepers. Further, of the total 31,000 tons of 91lbs rails demand, only 5,000 tons would be procured due to lack of adequate funds (ZTC, 2011).

2.5.2 Track contractor inefficiencies The selection of the local contractors to do the rehabilitation had also taken long. Whilst most of these local contractors were competent and had the capacity to do the work, they lacked tools and equipments such as ballast forks, track jacks, beater picks and cant boards which were

16 procured from abroad. Further, some of the contractors did not have qualified track supervisors. Due to this assertion, the tracks are now in a dilapidated state (kapanda, 2016). The rehabilitation of infrastructure at the Zambia Railways demand closer monitoring and supervision, hence the need to engage more track supervisors of at least three track supervisors per gang of 100 track workers. But there is shortage of qualified personnel.

2.5.3 Degradation of plant machinery, equipment and tools There is degradation of plant machinery, equipment and tools used in the maintenance of rolling stock with time. This is because most of them are over aged and past their life spans.

2.6 Experiences of other countries railway system (world perspective) The challenges facing Zambian Railways are not unique; many countries have developed strategies to rescue their railways when they reached a terminal decline. The study will look at the following countries’ strategic interventions, successes and failures; namely South Africa, and China.

2.6.1 South African Railway System (Transnet Freight Rail (TFR)) Rail started in South Africa as a privately-owned enterprise in 1860 with the introduction of a steam train in Durban. In 1860 (26th June) the National Railway Company ran the first railway operation covering 3.2 kilometers linking Durban to Harbour Point. Cape Town had started, by then, building their first 72 kilometers rail between Cape Town and Wellington. Different parts of the country had different companies building the railway systems (Pretoria and Johannesburg built by the Netherlands –South African Railway Company) and these were linked together into one national system by 1910 (South African Railways Power Plan, 1922).The Freight Logistics Company, TRANSNET, became state-owned in 1989 and was mainly used for the transportation of military equipment and agricultural products. To date the South African railway system is considered to be the most developed on the African continent (Burman, 1984). Its extensive rail network is the 14th longest in the world. The country’s rail infrastructure accounts for about 80% of Africa’s total and it connects the ports with the rest of South Africa. TFR is one of the largest railway organizations in Africa. This organization has positioned its business strategy to be amongst the top five global railway operators (Transnet, 2013). TFR’s core business is to transport bulk and containerized freight. TFR invests in procuring new additional locomotives to

17 support its planned volume ramp-up and to attract emerging business (Transnet, 2010). The quantity of 1 064 locomotives is planned to run for seven years.

The Department of Transport regulates all transportation in the country and shares its responsibility for both passenger and freight infrastructure and operations with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), the Rail Safety Regulator (RSR) and Transnet SOC Ltd. The Department of Transport has oversight over PRASA and RSR, while Transnet, a state- owned company, falls under the Department of Public Enterprises. The Gauteng Provincial Government, through the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA), is the owner of the R27bn Gautrain system.

2.6.1.1 TFR Strategic intent The proposed National Rail Policy plans to stimulate a renaissance in the South African railway sector by introducing remedial infrastructural investment plus institutional interventions to position rail as the backbone of the national transport sector. Total capital expenditure by Transnet in the 2016 financial year reached R34bn with R11.1bn spent on the expansion of infrastructure and equipment and R18.5bn spent on maintaining capacity in the rail and ports divisions. TRF strategic intent is to focus on key segments of the market disposal of non-core and non- freight businesses in order to drive future growth, enhanced accountability and operational efficiency. It reflect a renewed focus on customers and this is achieved through reducing the cost of doing business, building capacity, operating safely and improving efficiency. TFR has moved from a regions based operating business model to a business unit concept to enable a much detailed focus on operations. The Transnet 4.0 strategy is focused on repositioning Transnet and the country’s freight system for competitiveness.

Another critical policy document for the country was the Moving South Africa (MSA) which its intention was to operationalise the policy statements in the white paper. MSA made some pronouncement on urban transport with particular emphasis on densification of transport corridors, integration across all modes of transport and determining infrastructure requirements for appropriate corridor (DoT, 1998). The strategy’s main growth thrusts include; geographic expansion, product and service innovation and diversification. Pillay (2006) noted that Transnet’s vision is to become world class logistic service provider in South Africa. To do this, Transnet aims to improve the capacity and to upgrade and develop facilities to meet the growing demands of the economy whilst contributing to lowering the costs of doing business in South Africa.

2.6.1.2 TRF Challenges The deregulation of freight led to the deterioration of rail freight services, and road transporters took advantage of the opportunity to transport rail friendly cargo by road. The increase of truck traffic on the roads had a negative impact on the conditions of the roads, however. The situation placed freight rail on a continuous decline, which led to the obsolete state of rail infrastructure and rolling stock, and under-utilization. This had a detrimental impact not only on freight rail, but also on the South African economy. In South Africa rail infrastructure dominates the mining sector in terms of freight carriage and an example would be the extensive rail network transporting export coal to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) (Nel et al. 2004). The study revealed that extreme weather conditions, aging railway infrastructure, lack of maintenance, theft and vandalism are the major causes of failures in the business unit. The research made a number of recommendations including that the business unit develop a lifecycle management program for its ageing infrastructure and introduce skills transfer programs in place. Railway maintenance was suggested as being a key performance measure.

2.6.2 Railway System Infrastructure in China (CRC) China Railway Corporation (CRC) is the national railway operator of the people’s republic of China. It operates both freight and passenger services, and is responsible for managing the railway network. Almost all rail operations are handled by the China State Railway Group Company Limited a state owned company created in March 2013 (as China Railway Corporation) from dissolution of the ministry of Railway. It was converted into a joint stock

19 company and placed under control of the ministry of finance in June 2019. Rail transport is an important mode of long distance transportation in China. As of 2015, the country had 12,000km of railways, the second longest network in the world, and by the end of 2018, china had 29,000km of high speed railway (HSR), the longest HSR network in the world.

2.6.2.1 China Railway Infrastructures China railway infrastructures include tracks, train stations, and trains. Railway Line: according to the latest statistics, there are more than 139,000 km of rail track in operation in china, among which over 35,000 km are high speed lines. Most lines adopt the standard specification on the track gauge 4 feet 7 inches width which is used by world’s 60% countries. This specification unification is good for normalized operation of the whole rail system on this planet. Railway stations: there are about 5,500 train stations in operation including over 2,000 for passenger transport. The Chinese train stations is divided into six classes, including principal, first, second, third, fourth, and fifth classes. Trains: there are two types of trains running on china’s rail lines; high-speed and ordinary. The high-speed are usually in white or silver; while the ordinary trains are in blue, red or green with a little white or yellow. Most of them are powered by electricity, only a few are dragged by diesel locomotive and the steam locomotive is hardly seen. CRC challenges China has not been an exception where rail is concerned. In as much as China has the greatest volume and busiest freight and passenger rail, it has continued to run it as a public entity. According to Amos and Bullock (2011:5), China “does not have joined-up transport governance, does not separate the roles of policy-making service delivery and the market is not regularized though the industry is regularized”. However, China has massively invested in transport infrastructure development, Amos and Bullock (2011) argue the programs have been lacking in coordination and integration since the programs come from individual district plans and are passed on to different modal administrators. In their concluding remarks, Amos and Bullock (2011) suggest that China should use a coordinated National Transport Strategy (NTS) that has been adopted by Germany, France, Russia, US, Canada, Japan, Australia and Brazil. This is plausible if China decides to optimize its existing infrastructure and to distribute future public investment between different railway networks (Amos and Bullock, 2011). However, China has managed to come into the picture as a private investor so as to revamp the deteriorating Tazara

20 railway. According to the Transport Sector Plan (2012), China is involved as the main funder while Zambia and Tanzania still retain ownership of the railway.

2.7 LESSONS LEARNT FROM TRANSNET RAIL FREIGHT AND CHINA RAILWAY CORPORATION. Faced with similar challenges in terms of the financing and development of railways, experiences in other developing and emerging countries are particularly valuable on the following subjects:

The major lessons of experience suggest that Railway infrastructure maintenance plays a crucial role for rail transport and that, railway systems are difficult to maintain and manage, and requires a sustained level of organizational and political commitment. It has also been seen that maintenance and management of infrastructure tends to focus more Partnerships between railways and logistics/transport operators have been successfully achieved in some of the leading railways i.e. China and some examples already exist in South Africa as well. The strong synergies obtained seem to favor these approaches. One of the ways to overcome the challenges identified in both TRANSNET and CRC is to introduce more technologies into the maintenance management process. The trend towards using more technologies for condition monitoring is apparent in all case organizations. For example, more inspections at the rail case are carried out by machines to replace manual inspection. The trend towards using more technologies for condition monitoring is apparent in all case organizations. Adopting a systematic approach to railway infrastructure maintenance should be mandatory as it is the cornerstone for railway performance.

It has also been realized that in order to have an efficient railway infrastructure system, there is a need for a sound policy and institutional framework to ensure consistency in the decision making and operational procedures. Railway institutional framework; assessment, implementation and monitoring bodies with enhanced technical and business capabilities should be encouraged. Public railway bodies should be corporatized and professionalized.

The other lesson has been that, an establishment of a good environment for a workable and more reasonable railway system conforms to the development of transport policy which does not only

21 favor road transport should be suggested. Additionally, equal funding of road and rail transport infrastructures as well as intermodal transportation systems should be taken into account. At the national level, governments should not only enact a policy and management strategy for the separation of the operations and infrastructure for clear transparency but also should encourage the intervention of the private sector within the framework of a public-private partnership in order to have a good environment for investments.

Transnet provides a good example of a public-sector railway that has successfully evolved into a market oriented corporation. Integrating maintenance and coach refurbishment in its activities has proven successful, and is made possible by large investment programs in training.

2.8 RESEARCH GAP Many literatures that have been reviewed such as Mamboleo (2014), Wittke (2011) and Pfeiffer (2011) indicated the critical role of railway transport in cargo and passenger movements in relation to social and economic development. However, they were not able to show the actual level of importance of railway infrastructure maintenance as well as difficulties affecting and impeding railway operations, it is therefore the aim of this research to show that maintenance of railway infrastructure is an important factor to an effective and efficient railway system. 2.9 SUMMARY Literature has shown that the underperformance of the railway sector has been linked to deplorable railway infrastructure such as tracks, locomotives and wagons and limited operating capital. Transport-related policy documents, which are currently relevant to rail policy has no separate National Rail Transport Policy. The main ‘transport related’ document is the National Transport Policy. However, this is a ‘visioning’ policy, setting out the socio-economic purposes of transport generally. It does not engage with the institutional structures through which rail transport in particular is delivered. As a result, rail transport hardly features in local government-based arrangements for transport planning in the country, including Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), Spatial Development Plans (SDPs), Integrated Transport Plans (ITPs) and Public Transport Registers. The absence of a comprehensive rail policy is part of the institutional heritage of the rail sector, and it has given

22 the state-owned enterprises in the sector a very high degree of independent control within state ownership. In order to plan effectively for the future of the rail sector, it is necessary to establish consensus about what is expected of the rail sector, as well as of the industry and institutional structures that will make it possible to achieve these goals. China’s model is therefore exceptional. It does not have joined-up transport governance, it does not separate the roles of policy-making and service delivery and it does not have the features of a regulated market but of an administered industry.

2.10 Theoretical Framework Theories are critical basis for shaping any study for it to be related to the way system in a society works (Neuman, 2011). Theoretical framework of this study will be based on the tenets of transportation infrastructure theory by Frischmann (2005). This is relevant to the study and will attend to position Zambia Railways in the institutional framework and maintenance management strategies.

2.10.1 Transportation infrastructure Theory Frischmann’s theory of infrastructure and commons management provides a theoretical foundation for analyzing the contribution of a country’s transport network to economic activities, economic growth and development and the resulting social implications in developing economies. Frischmann argued that allowing the public open access to infrastructure, such as a network of railways, would create an economic return for the society and lead to social change. Frischmann’s economic theory of infrastructure has focused on the demand side of an economy and investigates how transportation infrastructure can create value for the general public. The central premise behind this theory is value creation. Frischmann proposes that open access to a network of railways for the public, can create significant positive results for the society. Since analysis of transportation infrastructure investment and its relationship to economic growth is multidimensional, many researchers have posited that such an analysis must encompass many components including GDP, population size, and degree of urbanization, traffic density, and level of economic development. Thus, applying Frischmann’s economic theory of infrastructure and commons management to this study, I expected that allowing the public open access to network of would significantly impact economic development by improving the standard of living for the masses and would result in social change.

2.11. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) say a conceptual framework is a graphical or diagrammatic representation of the relationship between independent and dependent variables in a study. It helps the researcher see the proposed relationship between the variables easily and quickly

Figure 2.1-Conceptual framework-showing the relationship between railway infrastructure and sustained and improved system

Rail transport policy Social and regulatory factors framework accrued

• Management of • Service quality ZR Private ZAMBIA RAILWAY • National sector • Service SUSTAINED & INFRASTRYCTURE frequency IMPROVED government role • Integration SYSTEM RAILWAY and • Journey • Public Private SYSTEM coordination Partnership time of rail reliability systems

•Maintenanc Railway e systems • Efficient Infrastructure infrastruct Public sector ure • Railway stations • Policy • Transit • Railroads and decision and coverage, tracks priorities •Transpor • Railway services •Infrastructu t schedule operation re •Operatio • Condition of development n capacity wagons and locomotives •Transpor t speed • Safety measures

Conclusion In conclusion to this chapter, it is important to note that there is a casual link between infrastructural development and economic activities. However, as the following research indicates, an understanding of the broader context of how political and institutional factors, that is an inefficient and ineffective government, often affects the level of infrastructure stocks, physical units and cash flow.

Too often, infrastructure development theories focus on road, electricity and water and sanitation and how they affect the economy of a country and not on rail transportation. Similarly, the theories often focus on macroeconomic linkages and forget micro economic linkages. This study intends to reconcile these two linkages so as to provide a more holistic view of the importance of an efficient transport infrastructure. In doing so, it touches on the empirical literature that focuses on international and local experience of railway infrastructure development.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction This chapter presents research methodology for the study. The chapter explains the type of research design that will be used, sample and sampling process and stipulates data collection methods. The chapter also presents data analysis.

3.1 Research Approach A mixed method approach was used in this research project. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. These comprised of numeric and textual data. The primary was essentially qualitative whereas the secondary was quantitative. The primary data was collected from a purposively sampled group of ZRL staff and they include; Railway operators, managers, public relation officers and other officers.

3.2 Research Design Welman and Krugger (2001) described research design as a plan according to which participants and subjects are obtained and how information obtained from these will assist in arriving at a conclusion. A descriptive survey research design was employed for this research project. The purpose of descriptive research is to describe an existing phenomenon (Welman and Kruger, 2001). It is to examine a phenomenon that is occurring at a specific place(s) and time. A descriptive research is concerned with conditions, practices, structures, differences or relationships that exist, opinions held processes that are going on or trends that are evident.

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study is to explore, describe, and understand the broad collective challenges ZRL may be facing currently, what the current state of railway infrastructure is, and to examine policies and strategies for the maintenance and management of Zambia Railways infrastructure. The descriptive and exploitive convey on qualitative analysis using both primary and secondary data where by primary data will be obtained through

26 interviews and questionnaires and secondary data obtained through document reviews at ZRL office.

3.3 Study Population The study extracted sample from the population of 100 ZRL employees. The population for this study is head of department, Managers and officers who are working at ZRL. The selection of these people is targeting the officials responsible for the maintenance and management of ZRL infrastructure.

3.4 Sample According to Pfeiffer (1994), in statistics and quantitative research methodology, sample means a portion or part of the population under study which represents the whole population in a study. Population for the study are, the officials working in the ZRL at various departments. For this study therefore, the sample was drawn from the head office of ZRL in lusaka district. The researcher requested for a list of available departments at ZRL from the Public Relations Officer. It is from each of those departments that are responsible for the maintenance and management of ZRL infrastructure.

3.5 Sample Size This study considered 50 total sample size drawn from a population of 100 officers, managers and head of departments of ZRL. Yamane (1967) sited by Glenn D (2013) propose the use of simplified formula to calculate sample size of the study. Therefore, the formula n = N / (1 + Ne2) is adopted to get sample of this study. Where: n = number of sample, N = total population, e = error tolerance or level of confidence Then: N = 100, e = 10%, n =? From the formula: n = 100 / (1+100*0.12) = 50 Therefore: n = 50

3.6 Research Sampling Method The sampling design used in this research is purposive sampling. Purposive or judgmental sampling is a procedure that enables researcher judgmentally targets a group of people believed

27 to be typically or specifically for some unique purpose that will best enable to answer the research questions and meet the research objectives. Saunders (2009) and Katarina (2012) argued that the researcher should consider factor that might influence the population such as social economic status, intelligence, access to education etc. This form of sample is often used when working with very small sample such as case study research. The researcher will use this procedure as the most useful technique in this study compared to the other techniques because based on its judgmental procedure; it enabled the researcher to select officials who specifically plays a vital role in the railway operations especially in railway infrastructure management.

3.7 Data Collection Techniques and Tools Data collection methods or techniques depend on the data sources including primary and secondary source of data. In this study, the qualitative data will be collected through an interview guide and quantitative data through questionnaires while the secondary data will be collected through document reviews especially the relevant documents from ZRL on railway infrastructure system.

3.8 Data Analysis Data analysis to be conducted in this research will distinctly be done in respect of the three forms of data collection procedures. With respect to the literature review data, the data will be skimmed through for the most relevant information. This involves identification of information with respect to railway infrastructure, legal and statutory obligations for the railway sector, transport institutional frameworks, and socioeconomic outcomes. The qualitative information generated from the interview guide will be analyzed using content analysis and questionnaire data will involve questionnaire coding, data entry into computer software application; Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Word. 3.9 Ethical Issues in research The data collection process raises a range of ethical issues. The most important include the issue of informed consent, respect for the confidentiality and anonymity of the respondents as well as respect for their privacy (Gregory, 2003). It is crucial for researchers to observe the ethical standards of data collection.

The issue of informed consent is an important one in the process of data collection. It requires that participants must only provide data freely, knowingly, and in a voluntary manner. Informed consent focuses on satisfying the rights of respondents to self-determine and to protect their liberty. The researcher will seek the informed consent of the respondents by having them sign a consent form for their participation in the data collection process. Respecting the confidentiality and anonymity of the respondents is also an essential aspect of ethical practices in research. Confidentiality and anonymity involves the need to respect the fidelity and dignity of the respondent by eliminating personal information from the responses provided (Gregory, 2003). This is especially important in business situations where the respondent may provide information that may not be public knowledge but which may be useful for the study. The researcher will include a confidentiality clause in the consent form to assure the respondents that the study will respect their confidentiality and anonymity.

3.9 Limitations During the data and information gathering process, a few challenges were encountered. Firstly, since most of the vital information obtained for the research was mainly obtained from the ZR’S officials, the results in this dissertation were based on the participants’ opinions and experiences of using the ZR as a mode of transportation. This meant that possible bias might have transpired, as certain ZR officials might have felt the need to present a better picture of the organization to the researcher. However, some of the participants saw the interviews as an opportunity for them to give honest opinions and perceptions about the ZR which motivated them to talk about the challenges they are facing as an organization. Secondly, the sample size was too small to be generalized to other sectors. There is likely to be unavailability of resources in terms of transport to travel to Zambia Railways Limited Headquarters in Kabwe to collect the necessary data and information.

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION 4.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the data and information gathered during the research process. Analysis through the use of graphs, tables, discussions and reports will be used to present and analyze the data collected from the field work that was conducted. 4.1 Demographic and Social Characteristics of Respondents 4.1.1 Sex of Respondents Table 4.1: Distribution of Respondents by Sex Gender Frequency (N) Percent (%) Male 29 60 Female 21 40 Total 50 100 Source: Study Findings, (2020)

4.1.2 Age Table 4.2: Distribution of Respondents by Age Group Age Group Frequency (N) Percent (%) 18-30 12 27 31-40 10 22 50 and above 20 33 41-50 8 18 Total 50 100 Source: Study Findings (2020) According to this study most of the respondents that participated were adults as 33% of respondents were aged between the ages of 41-50, this study involves adults respondents who are able to provide the right information required by the researcher mean while most of the population engaged in on railway project are adults.

4.1.3 Level of Education of Respondents The question was posed to the respondents about the level of education. The findings revealed that 15 (33%) of respondents were undergraduate, 5(11%) of respondents were secondary school levers, 25 (56%) of respondents were postgraduate, and only 25 (56%) of respondents are holders of postgraduate as illustrated in Table 4.3. Table 4.3: Level of Education of Respondents Level of Education Frequency (N Percentage (%) primary - - secondary 5 11 undergraduate 15 33 postgraduate 25 56 Total 50 100 Source: study findings, 2020.

The study contained the respondents who are educated as most of them are graduate followed by secondary school levers. The study reveals that the level of education possessed by respondents helped to gather information required by the researcher, as respondents understood the needs of questions and responded according to the required information.

4.1.4 Working Experience The question was asked to ZRL staff members’ respondents on their working experience. The findings revealed that 10 (22%) of respondents had an experience of 1- 5 years, 23 (51%) had a working experience of 6-10, 7(16%) have experience of 11-15 years and 5(11%) of respondents have above 15 years (see Table 4.4). Table 4.4: Distribution of Respondents by Working Experience Working Experience Frequency (N) Percentage (%) 1-5 years 10 22 6-10 years 25 51 11-15 years 8 16 Above 15 years 7 11

Total 50 100 Source: Study Findings, 2020.

The findings from Table 4.4 imply that the majority of respondents had a working experience of 6-10 years followed by 1-5 years. Experience makes a people to understand the railway system thoroughly and how it impacts the economic activities. Most people with experience proved to perform better in this study because the employees understood the project well and the advantages of such form of project. The management of ZRL has a wealth of experience in the subsector. The average number of years of experience at the railway is 25 years. Although the company currently enjoys cordial relations between management and employees, there still remain a few weaknesses in its Human Resources and Administration systems. The company lacks sufficient qualified technical staff necessary to effectively spearhead the much needed turnaround of its dismal performance.

4.1 THE CURRENT STATE OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE IN ZAMBIA The ever increasing population mounts immense pressure on available Infrastructure including Transportation network. Zambia is presently estimated to have 18,432,953 people (www.worldometers.info), and most of the people relying mainly on road for their daily movement. The age of the railways, coupled with untimely maintenance or sometimes near neglect manifest as rough surface and potholes with resultant human discomfort, man hour lost, increase vehicular maintenance cost, vehicular accidents, and loss of lives and property among others. A respondent stated the reason been as the “Failure to carry out scheduled maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement of obsolete infrastructure”.

4.1.1 The state of wagons, carriages and locomotives Locomotives, wagons, carriages and other rail way vehicles comprise what is called Rolling Stock. Zambia Railways Limited has a Rolling Stock Department which is responsible for the maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of railroad vehicles and the associated plant equipment and machinery. It is made up of two main sections; the Motive Power Section which is responsible for locomotives and carriages and the Wagon Section responsible for wagons and coaches. Further, ZRL has a total locomotive fleet holding of thirty seven; out of which twenty

32 four were operational and the balance thirteen were defective and extensively cannibalized. The fleet comprises three types of locomotives namely, the twelve General Motors locomotives of 3600 HP power rating and twenty five General Electric locomotives (17 U20C and 8 U15C (ADB, 2013). Figure 4.2 Availability of locomotives and wagons at ZRL

locomotives 2%

Wagons 98%

Source: field survey, 2020

Currently only 21 (2% )of locomotives and 1,300 (98%) of wagons are active which includes 385 that are currently serviceable, 275 mainline locomotives, 200 of which are in service, 170 shunt locomotives, 120 which are in service and 100 steam locomotives, none of which are operating. Out of all locomotives classes, the DE11A locomotives which unfortunately number up to 50 units only have not gone beyond their design economic life of 25 years. The above statistics provided by ZRL operations officer, (2020) clearly shows that ZR is facing the challenge of insufficient locomotive units. This has resulted in the organization failing to meet the scarce transport demand by the economy. Several available locomotives have gone beyond their life span thus they are unreliable.

ZR owns 8 682 wagons (including some old and damaged ones which are now being scrapped) and only 3 839 (41%) are operational while the rest are set aside for similar reasons as discussed under locomotives above. All the entity’s wagons have long gone beyond their design economic

33 life of 40 years. This scenario clearly shows that locomotive productivity is very low. The 3 839 that are operational have already passed their design life and this had resulted in ZR experiencing problems with export traffic.

4.1.2 Features of the railway infrastructure system Respondents were asked to describe the main features of Zambia’s rail present system in terms of according to the following scale: 1 Excellent, 2 Good, 3 Poor, 4 Very poor Table 4.5 Features of the railway infrastructure system FEATURES EXCELLENT GOOD POOR VERY POOR 1 2 3 4

Sustainability 3 Reliability 2 Durability 2 effectiveness 2

Source: field survey 2020. As illustrated in table 4.5 above, 34% of the respondent indicated that the railway infrastructure sustainability is poor, whilst the durability, reliability and effectiveness are quite good with 22% each indicated by the respondents. The figure below simplifies the responses on the railway infrastructure features.

4.1.3 State of the Railway Line Zambia Railways rail network which stretches from Victoria Falls Bridge in Livingstone up to the border town of Chililabombwe. The main line was generally on rotten wooden sleepers and only a few isolated areas were on concrete sleepers. Even the areas which were on concrete sleepers, some sections had broken concrete sleepers. The branch lines were generally on wooden sleepers, steel sleepers and concrete sleepers in some scanty areas, whilst the wooden sleepers in all the yard lines were not in good condition. The Zambia Railways rail network of 1,062 kilometres was extensively in poor condition due to the poor state of the rails and trains ran at reduced speeds of between 20 and 25 kilometres/hour.

4.1.3 Telecommunication and signaling Manual systems mostly depend on telecommunication and signaling networks through manual train’s orders or mechanical signals. The use of manual systems is proved to be sufficient because of the lower traffic volume on existing networks. However, safety problems occur through human error. Most of the existing telecommunication network dates back to 1960/70s and is completely outdated and cannot be rehabilitated, which results in bad communication within yards and stations. The management of the trains dependent on external services and does not allow a rigorous application of all the safety rules due to the use of grouped GSM for station- to-station calls in certain areas.

4.1.4 General condition of the railway infrastructure system at Zambia Railways Figure 4.3

General condition of the railway infrastructure 60.00%

50.00% 55%

40.00%

30.00%

20.00% 22.20%

10.00% 11% 11% 0.00% fair good poor very Good

Source: field survey, 2020.

Investigation of the insights of respondents carried out from the 100 responses on the field shows that about 55% indicate that the state of railway transport infrastructure in Zambia is poor, while 22.20% believes the state of railway infrastructure is considerably fair. However, a reasonable amount of the respondents of about 11% says it is good.

4.1.1 Main Source of Railway Infrastructure Development in Zambia The question was posed to the respondents on the main source of railway infrastructure development in Zambia. The findings show that (44%) of respondents said the consolidated funds is the main source of railway infrastructure development in Zambia followed by (40%) of respondents who said ZRL funds and (16%) of respondents said Donor funds, as shown in figure 4.4 below. Figure 4.4 Main Source of Railway Infrastructure Development in Zambia

main sources of railway infrastracture development

16% 44% consolidated funds ZRL funds 40% Donor Funds

Source: field survey 2020.

4.2 STRATEGIES AND POLICIES FOR THE MAINTENACE AND MANAGEMENT OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE AT ZRL. Respondents were asked to rate the maintenance strategies that could help revamp the railway infrastructure system in Zambia according to their effectiveness and infective. The strategies included the following as indicated in the table below. Strategies Effective Ineffective Total funding 15 5 20 Rehabilitation 12 8 20 programs Independent Regulatory 15 5 20 framework Public private 13 7 20 partnership Preventive maintenance 8 12 20 programs Source: field survey, 2020)

From the table above it can be noted that funding and independent regulatory frame are rated as the most effective strategies to revamp the railway infrastructure system by ZRL officials followed by private public partnership and then rehabilitation programs.

4.3 CHALLENGES IN MAINTAINING AND MANAGING THE RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE 4.3.1 Encroachments and vandalism According to Ngonga (2013) there are numerous encroachments along the rail line and illegal settlements on the railway reserve land thereby leading to a lot of vandalism and thefts. Most of these encroachments had also contributed to the unsafe condition of the line in some sections as it was being used as a garbage dumpsite for mining of gravel and sand on the formation and even trading on the rail track”. In some areas along the line of rail, members of the community stone trains resulting in broken windows and injured passengers. Some remove components from the railway track forcing the company to incur unplanned costs in replacing the railway components such as pandrol clips, ballast stones and sleepers. The plate below illustrates trading along the line of Rail thereby damaging the track Plate 4.1 trading along the railway line

Source: field survey, 2020.

4.3.3 Major problems associated with Railway infrastructure at ZRL From the study it emerged that major problems affecting railway infrastructure were as shown in figure 1 below, 36% of the respondent indicated that inefficient of funds was one of the major problem. While 18% of the respondents felt that lack of technological growth was a key factor affecting railway transport. The fact that technological advancement has resulted to growth of different sectors such as ICT, manufacturing and processing, railway in Zambia has not benefited from such technology. 12% felt that management of railway was not streamlined, suggesting that corruption has resulted to negative growth of railway transport in Zambia.

major challenges associated with Railway infrastructure 40% 35% 36% 30% 25% 20% 20% 15% 18% 14% 10% 12% 5% 0% poor inefficient of poor technology speed government Funds management railway policies Challenges affecting the ZR system Source: field survey-Author 2020

4.3.4 Factors Hindering Effective Use of Rail Transport in Zambia The advantages of rail transport in any economy are many. Among them as noted by this study include reduction in congestion, lowering the cost logistics, improve cargo handling, raises port and government revenues and increases customer satisfaction. On the other hand, globalization has had a major impact on the Zambian economy. For Zambia to be competitive it necessitates adopting high quality standards and lowering logistics costs. Despite of all issues and potentialities provided by rail transport to the country’ economy, still rail transport in Zambia is

39 in critical condition and in a state of neglect. In doing so, this study investigated the factors hindering the effective use of rail transport in Zambia. Data related to it are presented in table the table below

Statement Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Total Agree Disagree Lack of efficient rail system 50.0% 39.5% 10.5% - - 100% Low capacity of rail transport 20.0% 42.5% 25.0% 12.5% - 100% Rail network has been in a state of 70.5% 39.2% 6.2% - - 100% neglect and dilapidated Limited financial resources 12.5% 62.5% 25.0% 100% Shortage of rail personnel 75% 11.5% 13.5% 100% Low uptake of rail transport by 25% 12.5% 62.5% 100% shippers who opt to transport their cargo by road ways

CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS 5.0 Introduction This chapter presents discussion of the study findings. It makes reference to some authors who contributed to the theories and empirical evidence for this study. Discussion of findings is presented based on the specific objectives of the study.

5.1 objective 1: the current state of railway infrastructure Findings from figure 4.3 indicates that 56% of the respondents rate the general condition of the railway infrastructure as poor, 22.20% fair, 11% good as well as 11% very Good. ZR’s infrastructure and equipment, that is, track, Telecommunications, locomotives, wagons and coaches are in dire state. Most of the mainline locomotives have gone beyond their economic life span and this has resulted in constant breakdowns. Failure to carry out scheduled maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement of obsolete infrastructure, has contributed to the ZR’s current capacity. The electric locomotives that operated along the electrified route are no longer operating as part of the electrified section has been decommissioned due to theft and vandalism. The poor state of ZR’s infrastructure and equipment has resulted in derailments and prolonged transit time due to delays which has paved way for competition from the road sector. There is therefore need for ZR to implement a recapitalization strategy if it is to operate effectively and efficiently. This is in agreement with the observations made by mwila and mwanaumo (2016) that the railway tracks in terms of density and quality are significantly poorer and still operates at low standards in comparison to the international ones.

5.1.1 Locomotives For any railway to operate effectively and efficiently, locomotive availability and utilization are critical. ZR owns 168 locomotives which includes 57 (34%) that are currently serviceable, 85 mainline locomotives, 30 of which are in service, 73 shunt locomotives, 35 which are in service and 10 steam locomotives, none of which are operating. Out of all locomotives classes, the

DE11A locomotives which unfortunately number up to 13 units only have not gone beyond their design economic life of 25 years. The above statistics provided by ZRL operations officer, (2020) clearly shows that ZR is facing the challenge of insufficient locomotive units. This has resulted in the organization failing to meet the scarce transport demand by the economy. Several available locomotives have gone beyond their life span thus they are unreliable.

5.1.2 Wagons ZR owns 8 682 wagons (including some old and damaged ones which are now being scrapped) and only 3 839 (41%) are operational while the rest are set aside for similar reasons as discussed under locomotives above. All the entity’s wagons have long gone beyond their design economic life of 40 years. This scenario clearly shows that wagon productivity is very low. The 3 839 that are operational have already passed their design life and this had resulted in ZR experiencing problems with export traffic. (AFBD, 2015).

. 5.2 objective2: Strategies on the maintenance and management of Railway infrastructure Under this objective the idea was to examine the strategies and policies employed by ZRL in maintaining and managing the infrastructure, and the findings were as follows: Zambia Railways Limited has earmarked to overhaul the whole rail network of 1,062 kilometres from Livingstone to Chililabombwe under the two year programme of full track rehabilitation as from 2013 to 2015. One of the main strategies for Zambia railways’ infrastructure development is investment. It was noted that the Government had injected USD 120 million for the rehabilitation of the Zambia Railways Limited infrastructure. The main reason Zambia Railways had embarked on track rehabilitation was to bring the rail network to higher safety standards of train operations and to increase train speeds to an average of 80 kilometers/hour. The Consortium made a provision of US$40 million for the rehabilitation of Zambia Railways. The World Bank funded an additional investment of approximately US$30 million to finance Zambia Railways staff retrenchment packages, locomotive rehabilitation and other related projects.

But this in disagreement with what Transport and Infrastructure Development Unit, 2016) discovered. In their report, they reported that; The railway investment is neglected with some years having no spending allocation for rail for both operations and investment even in the absence of equity partners. The highest spending allocation to the railway subsector in the past decade was in 2013 when ZMW 619.31 million was allocated. These funds proceeded from the debutant euro bond and were aimed towards recapitalization and investment. In that way the total investment expenditure for railways neared 19% of the spending allocation towards the road subsector. The result of the sparing investment in the railway subsector has been drastic reduction in the capacities of the tracks and the rolling stock, deterioration of services and widening of the investment gap for all railway systems in the country. This has led to lack of extension of major railway lines to new mining areas, hence the limited share of railway freight compared to road. Full track and Rolling stock rehabilitation Programme Due to ZR’s extensive nature for funding requirements for the maintenance of its infrastructure, ZR has engaged with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) for a loan so that it could rehabilitate its infrastructure. The track rehabilitation involves replacement of the expired wooden sleepers and steel sleepers with concrete sleepers (442 km), deep screening (796 Km), ballasting (440 000 m3), welding of the rails to remove the joints, aligning and levelling the line with tamping machines. 13 defective locos will be rehabilitated by with 5 Operational locomotives which are overdue for periodical overhaul as well as 17 U20C Locos and 640 defective wagons will be rehabilitated. A second is planned on the 900 km line from chingola to livingstone, along which a second weekly passenger train has been launched. The Ndola-Luanshya branch is to be upgraded to carry copper ore to processing facilities, and copper for export. The mulobezi line will also be modernized. Purchase of New Resources ZR is one parastatal that can generate a lot of revenue from its operations and operate profitably. However, its current state has hindered such and it is only through funding that ZR can become viable again and be able to purchase new resources. The ZR management has secured provision of infrastructure contracts mostly from China. The agreement between the Chinese National Railways (CNR) and ZR to provide infrastructure was concluded in 2004. The contract between

43 the two railway companies stated that CNR would supply 10 locomotives, 8 commuter train sets and 64 mainline coaches at US$110,4 million (Parliament Report, 2012). The contract stipulated that there was need for a letter of credit that would cover the total price of the equipment and a 10% deposit to be drawn for production to commence (Parliament Report, 2012). Funding The funding requirements needed go way beyond ZR’s financial capabilities and hence the government is the majority shareholder is supposed to make available funding. However, there has not been funding from the government due to the current economic situation of the country. What the government could have done to help ZR stay afloat and pay their operating expenses, was to allocate money through the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP). However, these allocations have not been in full dispersion since the economic meltdown

5.3 objective3: Challenges Affecting Railway Infrastructure management in Zambia Under this specific objective of the study, the idea was to learn the challenges that affect railway infrastructure maintenance and management in Zambia. But it was not the scope of this study to reach out to another railway company in Zambia by the name of Tanzania Railways Authority (TAZARA). But through learning from the central railway line under ZRL, the researcher is able to present the following challenges that affect railway transport in Zambia particularly the central railway line: Findings from the study indicate that railway transport is facing some challenges that negatively affect its operations. The challenges include tear and wear of the railway line itself, old engines which are losing its normal capacity and factors associated with railway line width. The width is reported by ZRL Transport Manager to be smaller than the current international standards. The challenges that are faced by ZRL are different in nature from the challenges faced by railway system in Nigeria. An empirical study by Igwe et al (2013) indicates that public railway system in Nigeria is affected by poor communications within the railway company, government interference with management structure, lack of freedom to set tariffs, underfunding, technical problems and inflexible bureaucracy For a railway company to be effective and profitable, it has to critically examine its internal and external challenges and establish a clear plan to address them. This statement correlates with

44 scholars Firzli and Nicolas (2013) who explain that information generated during such assessment will inform strategies to improve operations and decisions to invest within the railway company. A continuous review of railway operations and the infrastructure services will give room for an improved cargo and passenger transport. Poor government rail policies; Government policies concerning the transport sector through infrastructure investment, pricing, fare controls, poor appointment of Board of Directors among others have not been favorable to the railways. Infrastructure development has been loop sided towards the roads. Many new roads have come up in the last five years in addition to the rehabilitation and normal maintenance. This has been fully financed by the government while nothing has gone into the railways. The government collects fuel levy from all including the railways whose proceeds are exclusively used for road provision. (Dessler, 2015).

The general perception by the respondents on the general challenges facing the railway infrastructure system in Zambia, are in agreement with literature reviewed. The major ones ranking more than 10.0% in figure 4.8 are discussed below in order of ranking:

5.3.1 Poor rail infrastructure and equipment; African governments have invested mainly in road infrastructure improvement, neglecting railways. The liberalization in road transport and the slow response of railways to adapt to the new market conditions resulted in dramatic traffic decline in rail transport. By 1990 most of the Sub-Saharan African railways were in virtual bankruptcy, requiring permanent cash injection and large investments in infrastructure and rolling stock (Olievschi, 2013). This general picture for SSA is typically the position prevailing in Zambia. 5.3.2 Poor management of the railways The political appointments are not only limited to the Board of Director but also to the chief executive officers and hence the executive management. Therefore most of the managers are not equipped with the business acumen that is necessary to run the railways efficiently and competitively. The result of lack of investment has led to limited rail routes across the country. The only single lane line is concentrated along the “line of rail”. This has further resulted in the other causes. These include poor accessibility to the rail of very low speeds resulting in long

45 transit times, costly to operate especially in provision of and maintenance of rail infrastructure and equipment, high net cost of rail charges/fees and poor safety of goods in transit. 5.3.3 Very low speeds Due to the very poor infrastructure and rolling stock, the average speed of freight trains in Zambia is extremely low. On the main railway, ZRL, the average speed is less than forty kilometers per hour (40 km/h). As a result of this it is not uncommon for cargo to take a month from the Zambian copper mines to the port of Durban where the road trucks take less than a week. The result is that transport users prefer the road to rail for transport services Limited routes around the country; The Zambian railway route has remained the same since its first construction in between 1903 and 1909. One important positive and strategic rail development was the construction of the TAZARA railway between Zambia and Tanzania. Apart from TAZARA which was initially politically driven, no other new railway lines have been developed. The impact of this is increased road usage with decline in rail traffic (Jorgensen, 2012). This is because a large part of

CHAPTER SIX

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.0 INTRODUCTION The previous chapter dealt with analysis, interpretation and discussion of data obtained by questionnaire and interview. In this final chapter of the study, the researcher outlines the conclusion and recommendations based on the findings of the study. The objectives of the study have achieved.

4.1 CONCLUSION The research carried out articulated the current condition and challenges that ZRL has been facing as an organization. The study sought to: 1) assess the current situation or state of the ZR’s infrastructure; 2) to examine policies and strategies for the maintenance and management of the infrastructure 3) to find out the challenges that ZR has been facing in maintaining and managing the infrastructure.

The study managed to answer all the research questions using data collected from the interviews, questionnaires, as well as relevant secondary data. Zambia is a landlocked country and the rail is vital for transporting bulk goods domestically and regionally. Failure to upgrade and maintain its infrastructure and services has resulted in preference of the road transport subsector over rail. Several of the challenges ZR has been facing can be curtailed if the Railway Act is quickly revitalized. More importantly, recapitalization of infrastructure through funds and loans is the first step towards revamping the ZR thus attracting and widening space for the sectors of the economy and the private sector in contributing to the economic growth and development of the country. Nonetheless, in the medium to long term ZR will need to collaborate more directly with other rail actors in the region to provide a more integrated network and to ensure upgrading towards a higher set of operating standards. This is not just necessary to make ZR a more effective organization but is an imperative for longer term economic growth and development.

The research has shown that the position of the railway infrastructure in Zambia is extremely bad. Rail transport is poorly used in Zambia. The railways market share of the traffic available to the road and rail is less than 10.0%. Bulk and heavy traffic which should traditionally be moved by the rail is being moved by road and this has in turn contributed to accelerated damage to the roads resulting in huge cost in form of maintenance. The rail is dogged by many accessibility/usage challenges ranging from poor infrastructure and equipment through poor management and unfavorable government policies. This poor position of the railways if not checked could adversely affect the economic development that the country recorded in the recent past. The railways could actually come to total collapse.

6.2 RECOMMENDATIONS In accordance with the findings on the research question “evaluation of the current state of railway infrastructure as a means for economic activities in Zambia” it is recommended that:

i. The government needs to expand the role of private sector participation and private concessions so as to improve ZR’s current capacity and condition of its railway infrastructure. Besides, such initiatives will help ZR achieve sustainable commercial feasibility. ii. Government should allocate more funds and create maintenance structures for the maintenance and management of the railway infrastructure, and it should consider investing in the acquisition of new locomotives. iii. Creating an independent entity that would regulate railway operations and services. This entity would implement institutional frameworks that would enable ZR to become competitive and operate according to the transportation market. Since the entity will be independent from government interference, it can have political and technical power to control government actions towards concessions and private sector participation. iv. The Government, through the relevant ministries, should take keen interest in monitoring and evaluating the operations of ZRL, it should also put in measures to make rail transport competitive so that equipment is not underutilized.

v. There is need to develop a National Rail Development Policy (NRDP) that will look into increasing rail capacity, introduction of rail commuter services and upgrading the current rolling stock and rail connectivity. vi. Efforts should be made by the government to quantify the number of existing railway transport infrastructures while also establishing state maintenance board to rehabilitate them urgently.

6.3 AREAS OF RESEARCH

Further studies shall be conducted in the areas of infrastructure management particularly in Railway projects management with the intention of assessing if these railway projects bring about socio-economic change within the country.

Appendices

Appendix I: The Budget ITEM COST 1 Data K 200 2 Typing K 50 3 Stationery K 50 4 Printing K 100 5 Refreshments K 100 6 Logistics K 200 TOTAL COSTS K700.00

Appendix II: Activity Plan

Indicator March March April May June

Problem identification

Literature Reviewing

Writing Proposal

Proposal Submission

Appendix III: Questionnaire

CAVENDISH UNIVERSITY ZAMBIA DEPARTMENT OF ART AND SOCIAL SCIENCES THE CURRENT STATE OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEM IN ZAMBIA ZAMBIA RAILWAYS JUNIOR MANAGEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

Note: the answers provided in this questionnaire are purely for academic purposes and meant to help the interviewer write her final year dissertation in the partial fulfillment of her Bachelor of Art in Development Studies. Thus any information given will be treated with utmost confidentiality.

SECTION A: DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS 1. Name of respondent ______2. Sex: male/female ______3. Age………………………………………………………………

4. Level of Education ______5. Position of respondent (e.g. Manager of Planning)

5.1 Responsibilities with respect to research topic: Please could you briefly explain in what way you have had exposure to issues with respect to Zambia’s rail system.

SECTION B: The rail system in Zambia 6. What do you feel have been the main influences on the evolution of Zambia’s rail system? (Economics, policy, institutions)

7. What were the strengths in the development approach taken for rail?

8. What were the weaknesses in the development approach taken to rail?

9. How would you describe the current state of Zambia railway’s infrastructure?

10. How efficient is the existing railway infrastructure?

11. What has been the availability and utilization of locomotives and wagons?

12. How would you describe the main features of Zambia’s rail present system in terms of: (Please rate according to the following scale: 1 Excellent, 2 Good, 3 Poor, 4 Very poor) Geographic coverage Sustainability

EXCELLENT GOOD POOR VERY POOR 1 2 3 4

Durability EXCELLENT GOOD POOR VERY POOR 1 2 3 4

Reliability EXCELLENT GOOD POOR VERY POOR 1 2 3 4

Effectiveness EXCELLENT GOOD POOR VERY POOR 1 2 3 4

SECTION C: ZR INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES/POLICIES 13. What are the key priorities for strategically maintaining Zambia railway infrastructure?

14. Has there been maintenance of the infrastructural facilities in the last 5 years? (a) Yes (b) No, explain why

15. If yes to 13, how often?

16. What are some of the maintenance programs and what is done in each of the program?

17. What is the schedule for a preventive maintenance program?

18. How effective is the current system of provision and maintenance for railway infrastructure?

19. Any other comments

End of Questionnaire Thank you for your cooperation

INTERVIEW GUIDE

1. Should Zambia reprioritize its transport investment with respect to rail (if so in what way?) 2. In your analysis, what do you think are some of the factors that have impacted on the changes in rail use patterns in Zambia? 3. What do you think are some of the challenges that the ZR faces and what do you think has caused them? 4. What are the impacts of the current capacities of the rail infrastructure for Zambia’s economy and society? 5. Do you think that the underperformance of the ZR has had an impact on key sectors of the economy .i.e. mining, agriculture and industrial? 6. What should be solved to improve railway infrastructure mainatenace in Zambia? I. In the short term. II. In the middle term. III. In the long term

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