Train passengers in southern Mozambique face fare rise – for the first time in 13 years

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Train passengers in southern Mozambique face fare rise – for the first time in 13 years

12:33 CAT | 01 Nov 2018

File photo: Folha de Maputo

The cost of rail travel in southern Mozambique will increase on December 1 after 13 years on the same tariff, the state-owned railway company announced today.

But Mozambique Railways trains connecting to the capital, Maputo, will continue to be among the cheapest means of transport in the country.

The tariff readjustment is announced in the newspaper Noticias today, where the state-owned CFM-Sul justifies the increase as part of “efforts to improve the provision of passenger transportation service”.

The increases cover the six passenger routes with connection to the capital, with the route between Maputo and Matola, Mozambique’s second city seeing a 40% from five to seven meticais per person (from 0.7 to 0.10 Euro).

The price of the longest trip, the 500 kilometres between the capital and Chicualacuala, sees the lowest increase, of about 14% to 208 meticais (about three Euros) – making it the most expensive journey on the network.

International organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have warned of the need for the Mozambican government to rescue the finances of state-owned enterprises, at the risk of jeopardising the country’s economic growth.

Source: Lusa