A goods train carrying 450,000 litres of diesel from Mozambique was involved in a dramatic accident at Mpopoma Station in Bulawayo early Saturday morning, in what officials have described as a “runaway incident.”
According to preliminary reports, the locomotive had been parked overnight after running out of fuel. However, its braking system reportedly failed in the middle of the night, causing the heavy freight train to roll downhill and collide with a stationary locomotive at the Mpopoma Diesel Shed.
Bulawayo Chief Fire Officer Mhlangano Moyo confirmed the incident and said emergency teams responded swiftly to prevent what could have been a catastrophic explosion or fire.
“The train ran out of fuel and was left parked overnight. Unfortunately, it gained momentum after the brakes lost power and went straight into another parked locomotive, resulting in the accident,” said Moyo.
He added that fire and rescue personnel spent several hours stabilizing the site, carefully draining remaining fuel from the tankers and separating the damaged locomotives to minimize the risk of ignition.
“We are decanting the fuel and pushing the locomotives apart. The process is ongoing and will take some time. The locomotive was pulling about 450,000 litres of diesel,” Moyo said.
Fortunately, no injuries or fatalities were reported. However, officials from the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) and the Bulawayo Fire Brigade have since launched a joint investigation to determine the precise cause of the brake failure and to assess the extent of the damage.
Runaway Fuel Train Crashes at Mpopoma Station, Exposing Zimbabwe’s Rail Safety Crisis
The accident has reignited debate over the deteriorating state of Zimbabwe’s rail infrastructure, which experts say is increasingly unsafe due to years of underfunding, neglect, and vandalism.
Once considered one of Africa’s most efficient freight networks, NRZ now operates a crippled fleet with outdated locomotives, worn-out braking systems, and dilapidated rail lines. Many of the engines and wagons still in service date back to the 1960s and 1970s, when the system was originally built to link Zimbabwe with ports in Mozambique and South Africa.
Industry insiders estimate that less than 10 percent of NRZ’s locomotives and wagons remain serviceable. With spare parts scarce and maintenance irregular, mechanical failures such as the one reported in Bulawayo have become increasingly common.
According to NRZ figures, the parastatal’s rail network covers roughly 2,760 kilometres, but much of it is no longer fit for high-capacity freight transport. As a result, freight volumes have plummeted from over 18 million tonnes in the late 1990s to under 3 million tonnes in recent years, with most goods now transported by road.
Experts point to a combination of factors driving this decline — including theft of copper cables, vandalism of signaling equipment, and a lack of investment in modern safety systems. These challenges have rendered large sections of the network inefficient and, in some areas, outright dangerous.
“The railway system has become a ticking time bomb,” said a retired NRZ engineer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Without functional signaling and reliable brakes, even a small mistake or power failure can trigger disaster. We are lucky that this time there were no casualties.”
The Mpopoma incident, he added, underscores how fragile the system has become: “If that train had been carrying petrol instead of diesel, the explosion could have destroyed an entire section of the city.”
In 2023, the Zimbabwean government announced a series of rehabilitation partnerships with private investors, aimed at modernizing NRZ operations. The deals included plans to refurbish rolling stock, repair key routes connecting Zimbabwe to Beira and Maputo in Mozambique, and upgrade the electronic signaling system.
Yet, despite these pledges, progress has been slow. Financial constraints, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and procurement delays have meant that much of the rehabilitation work remains on paper.
Bulawayo, historically the nerve centre of Zimbabwe’s rail industry, continues to bear the brunt of this decay. The city’s once-bustling rail yards — which in the 1980s employed thousands — now operate at a fraction of their capacity. Many workshops and depots lie idle, with obsolete locomotives gathering rust under the open sky.
Rail experts and safety advocates warn that without urgent investment in modern braking systems, automated safety controls, and routine maintenance, more “runaway” incidents are inevitable — particularly in areas where trains are parked on gradients without auxiliary power.
“Zimbabwe needs to modernize or face more tragedies,” said transport analyst Tendai Mukora. “We can’t continue relying on mechanical brakes from the 1970s. These are ticking hazards. Every train parked on an incline is a potential disaster waiting to happen.”
As investigations into the Mpopoma accident continue, residents of Bulawayo are breathing a sigh of relief that a potential fire catastrophe was narrowly avoided. But the near miss has served as a stark reminder that Zimbabwe’s rail system is running on borrowed time — and that unless decisive action is taken soon, the next incident may not end as safely.
Source- ZimEye
