Compensation for delayed train
Last year my father passed away when I was still a college student. I then booked to travel to Kigoma by train the next day after receiving the message of my father’s demise. On the traveling date we departed three hours late from Dar. They only announced that the train would leave late and we were not given even a bottle of soda to console us. On reaching Kilosa the train experienced some technical problems and for that matter we stayed there for further eighteen hours. I reached Kigoma at night, just to find that my father was buried that evening. Can I sue for damages from the Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC) for the delay in Kilosa? Is it fair to announce the delay of commencing the journey without treating us at least with bites?
ML, KigomaThe Railways Act, 2017 (the Act), explicitly provides that Tanzania Railways Corporation is not liable for any loss arising from delay caused by the failure of any train to start on or complete any journey within a set time. According to Section 37(2) (c) of the Act, when TRC fails to complete the journey for whatever reason within 48 hours, the Corporation is only obliged to refund the fare paid by the passenger or provide an alternative means of transport available and affordable to the Corporation. In your case, as long as the delay was only for 18 hours and you were transported to your destination, your claim for damages cannot succeed.
ML, KigomaThe Railways Act, 2017 (the Act), explicitly provides that Tanzania Railways Corporation is not liable for any loss arising from delay caused by the failure of any train to start on or complete any journey within a set time. According to Section 37(2) (c) of the Act, when TRC fails to complete the journey for whatever reason within 48 hours, the Corporation is only obliged to refund the fare paid by the passenger or provide an alternative means of transport available and affordable to the Corporation. In your case, as long as the delay was only for 18 hours and you were transported to your destination, your claim for damages cannot succeed.
Regarding the delay to commence the journey, section 37(2) (b) of the Act gives obligation to TRC to immediately inform the passengers, through a public address, that the train will leave late. Unfortunately, the law doesn’t spell out how the Corporation should treat passengers during the period of delay.
