DODOMA: THE government has directed the Ministry of Transport to assess the feasibility of introducing an early Monday morning train service from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, purposely to enable public servants who travel over the weekend to return to work on time.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), Professor Riziki Shemdoe, issued the directive recently while representing Chief Secretary Ambassador, Dr Moses Kusiluka at the closing ceremony of Public Service Week celebrations in Dodoma.
Professor Shemdoe instructed the ministry, through its Permanent Secretary Professor Godius Kahyarara to explore the possibility of operating a dedicated early Monday service to ease commuter challenges.
He said the proposed train would address difficulties faced by many public servants who travel to Dar es Salaam over the weekend but struggle to return to Dodoma in time for work on Monday morning.
“Many public servants leave for Dar es Salaam on Friday evening and return on Monday.
With an early morning train, they would be able to arrive in Dodoma in time to report for duty,” he said.
ALSO READ: SGR contractor starts settling 2.6bn/- levy debt
Professor Shemdoe noted that the matter had also been raised with the Permanent Secretary in the President’s Office (Public Service Management and Good Governance), saying the current train schedule makes it difficult for employees to comply with official attendance monitoring systems.
“Today we use biometric fingerprint attendance systems. When the first Monday train arrives in Dodoma just before 10:00 am, employees are already considered late. We therefore need an earlier service to ensure public servants arrive at their workplaces on time,” he said.
The proposal comes as the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) continues to expand services in response to growing passenger demand along the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
Recently, TRC introduced an additional Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) service between Dodoma and Dar es Salaam, operating every Friday to accommodate increased passenger traffic at the end of the working week.