AWARENESS AND ADOPTION OF INTELLIGENT RAILWAY TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN ZIMBABWE

Abstract

The study seeks to investigate the awareness and adoption of modern technologies which are collectively called (IRTS) Intelligent Railway Transport Systems by the NRZ (National railways of Zimbabwe) of Zimbabwe. Adoption of these technologies are on an increasing trend in developed and developing countries, installation and implementation of a railway system called RailTracker in Tanzania has improved railway services in that country, in Uganda and Kenya the Rift Valley Railway (RVR) has introduced GPS technology to track trains. In India a system is used to detect defects in rolling stock while they are on the run. Where these systems have been implemented, they have significantly improved the efficiency, safety and quality of service of railway operations. In Zimbabwe the rail network is an important transport infrastructure enabling movement of goods and passengers. Primary research was carried out using questionnaires and semi structured interviews, data was collected from 67 participants comprising Engineers, Technicians, Train Drivers and Station Managers. 98% of the technical participants indicated that they were aware of IRTS however the adoption of the systems by the NRZ is at 0%. 100% of the Managers indicated that they were aware of IRTS and the company is willing to adopt them but currently no system has been installed Secondary research was conducted to identify and study similar projects elsewhere, their success as well as the difficulties encountered during their implementation. Secondary data was collected from books and the Internet. Article visualizations

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